


You are a runner and I am my father's son

by Linklyshow



Series: I'm not like him, I'm a hero [1]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Wally is very young at first, dont worry later chapters get happier, more characters might be introduced later on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2018-02-10
Packaged: 2018-12-06 18:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 32,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11606151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linklyshow/pseuds/Linklyshow
Summary: Wally West has always been a strong kid, taking whatever life decides to throw at him. So when life decides to introduce him to a new uncle maybe he won't have to be so strong on his own anymore.





	1. His Biggest Fan

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody! Just a heads up if you didn't read the tags this fic definitely has a fair amount of abuse in it and possibly triggering content! I advise everyone to read with caution if that may bother you.
> 
> So this is kinda just a fic to talk about Wally's life and his relationship with Barry or at least how I like to imagine it. next chapter won't be so sad tho I promise!

Wally sat on the ground in front of the T.V eating a bowl of cereal. It was Saturday morning and all the good cartoons were on. Except, that wasn't what Wally was so enthralled with. Believe it or not, he was actually watching the news. This petite reporter was currently interviewing Central City’s one and only Flash. She was asking him a few questions and he was happily answering them. Wally loves watching the news because there’s always an 80% chance The Flash will at the very least be mentioned, and this interview is probably the most of The Flash he’s ever seen! Well in one sitting at least. Usually, footage of him is very brief.

“Flash I think the people of Central can all agree when-”

The screen went black.

Wally got up from a cross-legged position and stood on his knees, hands around the T.V.

“No no no! What happened??”

“Get your hands off the screen, Wally!” Wally’s dad, Rudy, said holding the remote. Wally jumped at his dad’s sudden appearance and turned to face him. “I turned it off. You don’t need to be watching that anyway.”

Wally practically groaned in protest. “But why Dad? It’s only the news! Plus they were just talking to The Flash!”

“I could care less who she’s talkin to. Besides your Aunt Iris is bringing over someone special to show us tonight remember? You need to start cleaning up your messes”

Wally’s frown was replaced with a smile at the mention of his aunt. The lil redhead loves whenever his aunt comes to visit. She’s so nice and kind and always makes him feel good. However, he wasn’t sure about this...new guy. Hopefully, Aunt Iris will still have time for him during their visit.

“That’s tonight?! Omygosh I gotta get ready!”

Wally grabbed his cereal bowl and rinsed it in the sink before bolting for his room. He had to make sure everything was in tip top shape for Aunt Iris. Sometimes she would come in his room and they’d play games, and his dad was right he didn’t want Iris to sit around in a messy room. However, Wally’s room isn’t messy. It’s sort of the opposite. The only thing really out of place is his bed sheets and blankets from when he got up this morning. He looked back at the doorway to his room to see if anyone was watching him and then started to make his bed.

For the remainder of the day, Wally helped his mom clean up the rest of the house then stayed in his room waiting for his aunt to show up. A few hours went by when something started to smell...really good. Wally opened his door and peeked down the hall. Smells like dinner is being made. Maybe it’s already done, and if it is that means Aunt Iris will be here soon! Wally made his way down the hall and into the kitchen. His mom was wrapping up a bowl of spaghetti sauce and a bowl of noodles. A plate of french bread was also sitting nearby.

“Wow, this looks really yummy mom! Is, Is this for tonight? Why are you wrapping it up?”

Wally’s mom continued wrapping and said “Well, we don’t know how much longer they’re going to be so to keep the food warm and fresh we have to wrap it up in tin foil.” Mary finished wrapping up the bowls and plate of bread. “Just like when we put leftovers in the fridge.”

Wally didn’t say anything after that. He just watched his mom tidy up whatever messes were made from cooking their meal. Until he decided to ask her a question.

“Mom? Do you...do you know the guy that’s coming over tonight?”

His mom talked while she cleaned. “No I don’t, that's why Iris is bringing him over, so she can introduce him to us.” Mary looked up towards Rudy who was in the living room. “Rudy have you heard from Iris?”

“She should be here in less than 10 minutes.” Rudy said without looking away from the television screen.

Mary turned back to Wally. “You hear that Wally? She’ll be here very soon.”

Wally jumped around a little in excitement. “Yay! I can’t wait to see her!!”

“Wallace! Come here please.” Rudy called from the living room. Wally stopped jumping around and walked over to his father in the living room. “Yes?”

“Listen, I want you to be on your best behavior when they get here okay? If not you’ll be in big trouble do you understand?” Rudy said calmly.

Wally quickly nodded in response. “Yes.”

Rudy gave Wally a pat on the shoulder and he tensed up, but Rudy didn’t seem to notice. “Good boy, run along now, the games on.”

Wally looked over towards the T.V and seen his dad was watching a baseball game, then turned around and went to his room. He wasn’t in there too long before he heard a knock on the door. Wally ran out of his room and back down the hall again but didn’t go out into the rest of the house. He peeked around the corner of the hall to see his dad answering the door. Iris and Rudy said their hello’s and shared a hug. Then she made her way in and another person followed behind her.

That must be the guy Aunt Iris wanted to introduce them too.

He looked...nice. He wore a button up shirt and nice shoes. He was introduced to Rudy and Mary as they made their way into the house. Iris noticed a little face peeking into the living room and made a small gasp.

“Is that my favorite nephew?! Get over here and give me a hug!” Before she was even done talking Wally ran right over to her and gave her a big hug.

“Oh, I missed you so much!” Iris pulled away and ruffled his hair. “Have you gotten taller? You look taller.” Wally beamed.

“Hi Aunt Iris! I missed you too!”

Wally noticed this new guy was looking at him.

“Bar this is Wally.”

Wally definitely didn’t share the same energy seeing this dude as opposed to seeing his aunt. He seemed to notice this so he crouched down in front of him to seem less intimidating.

“Hey buddy! My name is Barry. It’s very nice to meet you!”

Wally seemed unsure but went along with it.

“Hi Barry…”

Barry looked at the print on Wally’s shirt. It was The Flash’s emblem. No way! He just found the perfect way to warm this kid up to him.

“I like your shirt Wally. Are you a fan of The Flash?” Wally seemed surprised that Barry mentioned his shirt. Any bit of shyness he had seemed to be gone now.

“Yeah! Only his biggest! I want to be just like him when I grow up!” Wally looked absolutely ecstatic when he talked about The Flash. His eyes lit up and he smiled almost as big as when he saw his aunt a few moments ago. Barry chuckled a bit at the kids enthusiasm.

“Oh really? I’m sure The Flash would appreciate that very much! How old are you now Wally?”

Wally put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest out and said he was 6 like it was the greatest accomplishment in the world. Iris interjected their bonding moment.

“Well, Wall if you ever want to be big and strong like The Flash you need to get some food in that little body of yours! and I don’t know about you but I’m starving!” Iris said as she made her way into the dining room where Rudy and Mary already were. Wally looked at Iris then back at Barry.

“Here, the dining room is this way.” Wally took Barry’s hand and led him into the dining room where he sat at the table next to his mom. Barry sat in the chair in between Wally and Iris. Spaghetti was dished out and Rudy was asking Barry questions about his life.

“So where do you work Barry?”

“I work at the Central City Police Department. I’m a forensic scientist.”

Wally found this extremely interesting and interrupted Rudy’s little interrogation.

“Wait you work at the police station? In Central City? Isn’t that where The Flash works?

“No.”

Well _technically_ yes.

“I don’t think The Flash himself works anywhere he just kinda...helps where ever he can in his free time.”

Barry noticed Wally looked a little disappointed with that answer.

“Buuut, I have seen him around the station a few times. Yanno, bringing in the bad guys and such.”  

Bingo. Wally looked absolutely shocked at the implication that Barry has actually been in the same room as The Flash.            

“Oh my gosh you’ve actually met The Flash!? That’s amazing! What’s he like? Does he stop and chat or is he in an out? I can’t imagine him staying in one place long, well cause he’s The Flash of course but he seems too nice to not at least chat a little. How many times have you seen him? Are you guys like best friends or what? Do you think I can meet him too!? That would be-”

“Wally!”

The young boy was startled out of his antics as his dad firmly said his name. Wally looked over at his father to see a look on his face that told him he should probably be quiet. Wally then found his plate of pasta way more interesting as he shoveled some noodles around with his fork.

“Sorry.”

Rudy then continued like nothing happened.

Barry half listened to what Rudy was saying. He looked at Wally who had his eyes glued to his plate. Wow, that was really unnecessary. Wally was just excited is all. Barry really enjoyed Wally’s enthusiasm for The Flash and really his enthusiasm in general. He’d only known the kid for a total of what 20 minutes? But he already felt pretty attached to him. He was such a ray of sunshine and could definitely see why Iris adored him so much.

After that little bump in the road, the conversation was rather lighthearted. Barry mostly talked about who he is and what he does and how he and Iris met. You know, generic conversation starter stuff. Every now and then Barry would look over at Wally who was just slowly eating his food.

After a little while, Wally was finished and he grabbed his plate to bring to the sink. The plate was rather big and Wally accidentally knocked his cup of water off the table. Barry low-key used a touch of speed and grabbed it right before it hit the floor but couldn’t stop all the water from spilling out of it. The water hit the wood floor with a slap.

“Goddammit Wally!” If Rudy seemed a little angry at Wally before he was mad at him now.

Wally ran into the kitchen to fetch some paper towels repeatedly saying “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!!”

While Wally was away from the table Rudy’s anger seemed to dissolve as he composed himself. Barry brought the cup back up to the table and Rudy sighed before continuing.

“Nice save by the way. If your reflexes weren’t so good he’d be cleaning up broken glass!” Rudy finished with a laugh and resumed eating his food. “You know, that kid is so clumsy it’s a wonder we still have nice things.”

Wally returned with an arm full of paper towels and crouched down to wipe up all the spilled water. Barry felt incredibly sorry for the poor boy so he kneeled down and tried to help clean up the mess.

“Here let me help you with that.”

Barry reached for some of the paper towels in Wally’s arms and Wally looked up at him like he couldn’t believe this...stranger was helping him clean up a mess _he_ made. Nevertheless, he handed over some paper towels.

“O-okay.”

Rudy didn’t seem to like what was happening though.

“Oh, Barry you don’t have to do that. The kid made the mess, he can clean it up on his own.”

“We’re almost done. Besides thing’s get done faster when you work in a team.”

As Barry said the last part he looked at Wally and gave him a smile as he talked. This made Wally smile back at him.

“Aaaand done!” Wally added a small Yay! And took the wet paper towels to the trash bin in the kitchen.

Barry stood up and sat back down at the table as Wally was coming back from the kitchen. About 20 more minutes passed before Iris and Barry were at the door saying their goodbye’s.

“The food was delicious Mary! Thank you for having us.” Iris said giving her a hug.

“It was our pleasure! You two are welcome back anytime you want!” Mary’s voice got quiet before she said “He’s a real keeper!” and made a gesture to Barry who was little ways away kneeling down saying goodbye to Wally.

Barry stood up “I’ll see you next time okay?”

Wally smiled. “Next time? You guys are coming over again?”

“Well yeah, who else am I going to talk about The Flash with? Maybe next time you and your mom and dad can come over to Aunt Iris’s house for dinner.”

“Yeah!! That would be so fun! I love Aunt Iris’s house!”

Iris was in the doorway waiting for Barry to be done.

“Barry, you ready?”

“Yeah. I gotta go squirt, see ya later.”

Wally waved his hand goodbye. “Bye Barry!.”

Wally watched as Barry made his way towards the door and said his goodbye’s again to Mary and Rudy. Then he stepped outside and shut the door leaving him until next time just like he said. Wally’s eyes went from the door to a very angry looking Rudy. That didn’t look good. Wally turned around and made a mad dash for his room.

“Wallace! Get back here!” Rudy went after Wally but the kid was just too fast. He was already in his room with the door shut. Rudy opened the door to find Wally sitting at the end of his bed farthest from the door underneath his blanket. He made his way over to Wally’s bed and pulled the blanket off the young boy.

“You call that your best behavior? You had our guest on his knees cleaning up after you! Do you know how embarrassing that is?”

Wally practically curled into himself. “I’m sorry! I didn’t ask him to help me he just did!”

“Well, he wouldn’t have had to if you hadn't spilled your drink!” Rudy began to undo his belt. “I think you need to be taught some manners Wally, instead of embarrassing your mom and me!

Wally held his hands up defensively. “Wait! Wait! I-I promise next time I’ll be better! Please give me another chance I’ll do anything!”

Rudy stopped what he was doing and just scowled at his son. Wally took this as his opportunity to persuade his dad into not doing anything drastic. 

"I promise from now on I'll be perfect, just please give me another chance to show you!" 

Rudy was still for a moment before yanking Wally closer to him and giving him a really hard smack across the face. 

When Wally was done reeling from the force of the smack he looked towards his dad again who was making his way out of the room. He said: "Consider that your second chance." then slammed the door. 

Wally was glad that he didn't get smacked with a belt, but started crying anyways because wow that really hurt. He heard yelling coming from outside his room and tried his best to not pay attention to it but he was finding it had to focus on anything else besides the screaming and the stinging pain on his cheek.

“No, Mary! Don’t even think about going in there! He got what was coming to him!”

“He’s six Rudy! Please give him a break!”

They were fighting about whether or not Wally needs comfort after the beating he just got.

Time went on and nobody came to see him that night.  


	2. Till Next Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris tells Mary that she and Barry will babysit Wally for the afternoon and Barry grosses Iris out with a sandwich.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a happy chapter like I promised! This is a short one but it's just to set up for the next time Iris and Barry see Wally which will be in chapter 3. BY THE WAy in this chapter, Barry and Iris discuss what they think about Rudy's treatment towards Wally and I just wanted to mention that Iris doesn't know that Rudy harms Wally in any way she just believe's he is sorta strict when it comes to parenting. She kinda defends him a little bit and she definitely would not if she knew. Anyways thanks for reading!

Barry stepped off the porch of the West’s house and followed Iris to the car. He sat in the passenger seat and Iris turned on the engine

“That didn’t go as bad as I thought it was going to! What did you think of them?”

“That went better than I thought too! And yeah I mean, they seem great. Mary is a little quiet and Rudy is a little on the intense side but I enjoyed it. The food was great too! I think you might have some competition.”

Iris rolled her eyes and laughed a little at the statement. “Great now my cooking has to compete with not only you but my sister in law too. What did you think about Wally? Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

“Yeah, he’s a sweet kid. I’m surprised he took to me so fast. When he first saw me he looked super anxious.”

“I think he really liked that you were a fan of The Flash. No offense to you or anything but The Flash isn’t liked very much in his home so I think it was nice for him to see someone that actually likes The Flash besides me.”

Barry was half surprised at that. He was used to people not liking superheroes because they cause more crime then they stop or destroy cities in battle, but for him, that sort of died down the longer Barry has been working as The Flash. Which was only about a year and a half. He worked extra hard to please everyone in Central and get to know them. He even fixes all the damage, if any, during fights with the rogues. Which served him more popularity and less negative feedback. Even after everything he’s done to win the city’s favor there’s still people that dislike him? Granted Wally and his family don’t live in Central, but Keystone is only about an hour away shouldn’t make that much of a difference.

“None taken I guess, but how come his parents don't like The Flash?”

“Well Mary is indifferent but Rudy doesn't like how distracted he makes Wally. As you probably noticed Wally is kinda obsessed with you. Apparently, he daydreams a lot in school about The Flash and such. I can see why that’s a problem but Wally is such a smart kid he pulls through. I think Rudy is just worried for his son’s education.”

Hmm, that seemed like a viable reason.

“Don’t you think Rudy is a little...hard on Wally though? I mean, I’m not really the person that should be giving people parenting advice but he’s just a kid you know? He shouldn’t have to be stressing out over his education at age 6. Or anything else for that matter.”

Iris finally got onto the freeway and Barry mentally prepared himself for the hour drive back to Central City. 1 hour doesn't seem like a long time but when you're a speedster confined to a chair in a metal box going a pitiful 60 miles an hour, it’s torturous.

“It’s just tough love Barry. Our dad was never really there for him so I think that’s what is making him want to ensure Wally get’s a better future than he had.”

“I don’t know Iris, did you see how scared he was when he spilled that water? And the way Rudy talks about him... I think they work him too hard or something, I don’t know it just didn’t seem right to me.”

“Yeah that was a little sad, I’m not sure why Wally was so upset about it, but you helped him out with it. He probably appreciated that.

“Yeah. I’m probably over analyzing things anyway. He seems like a happy kid! I just...have this feeling in my stomach that something is wrong.”

Iris laughed to herself then added “Oh you do? It’s probably the 7 sub sandwiches you had _before_ we left for _dinner_.”

Barry smiled. “Oh you know those were necessary! You wouldn’t want me eating literally everything they have, would you? What kind of first impression would that make?”

Iris laughed again “You’re right! A pretty lousy one!”

Their conversation fell silent and Barry rested his head against the window watching the blur of the side of the road. After that night he didn’t really think about Wally for a while. Until around 2 weeks later Iris was on the phone.

She was sitting on the front porch when Barry pulled his car into the driveway. He just got home from a long day at the police department. He made his way up to the porch where Iris was sitting and gave her a kiss on top of her head.

Iris rotated the phone so the part that should be by her mouth was by her neck. “Hi babe, how was work?”

“Same old, same old. Who are you talking to?”

“Oh no really it’s no problem!” Iris then told Barry in a softer voice “Mary.”

Barry nodded with a little “Oh” in understanding and went along inside. He hung his messenger bag on the coat rack on the wall along with his actual coat. Then took off his shoes and left them by the door.

When Iris came back inside Barry was busy in the kitchen making himself some things to eat. She couldn’t see him because he was hunched over hidden behind the refrigerator door.

“Hey Bar?”

“Myeah?”

Barry’s stood up from behind the refrigerator door and he had a mouth full of food. Iris couldn’t tell what exactly he was eating though partially because well he was obviously chewing it, and he also had tons of different things in his arms. A bag of chips, a loaf of bread, a box of twinkies? Among many other various things found in the kitchen.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Iris walked into the kitchen and leaned on one of the counter tops. Barry was busy taking his assorted ingredients and making...well... whatever it was he was making.

“Well unless the rogues try anything, nothing! It’s my day off from work.”

“Perfect! I hope you don’t mind I kinda said we’d watch Wally for Mary tomorrow afternoon. His birthday is coming up in a few weeks and she needs to do some birthday shopping. It’s been kinda hard for her to do since she can’t go anywhere without him.”

Barry wiped his hands together and turned to face Iris. “Yeah, that sounds great! I don’t mind that at all! It’ll give me a chance to get to know him better.” Barry said as he shook up a can of spray cheese and sprayed it on his...sandwich? There’s bread so let’s just call it a sandwich.

Iris eyed the concoction behind Barry and screwed her nose up before saying. “Barry, what are you making?”

“Hmm? Oh um, dinner.”

Iris laughed. “That looks disgusting!”

Barry looked back at his masterpiece and judged it. “Doesn’t look too bad! Besides whatever keeps me in shape is good enough for me.

“I think you're the only person on Earth who can say that while talking about a sandwich covered in spray cheese.”

“What you want me to make you one?”

Iris pretended to think about it. “Hmm, I’ll pass. Why didn’t you make an actual meal Bear your cooking is amazing.”

“A true chef likes to hm...experiment...with different ingredients you know? To see what ingredients work the best together.”

“Well somebody is going to be doing their experimenting on the couch tonight if they come in bed with cheesy twinkie breath.” Iris said as she walked out of the kitchen.

“Wha- Iris?!” Barry watched as Iris vanished into their room. “The Twinkies aren’t even going into the sandwich!”

“I mean it Barry!”

Hmph, bet Wally would appreciate his...meal. Granted he is 6, actually almost 7 now that his birthday is coming up. Barry wondered if he should get Wally a gift. What would the even kid like? An obvious choice would be something Flash related, but just in case he might do a little digging tomorrow afternoon.


	3. So you're my Uncle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally goes over to Iris' house while his mom goes birthday shopping. Barry get's to know him better and has a great time with no awkward moments! Almost...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has very vague mentions of Wally's parents fighting but nothing much worse than that. Just a heads up just in case!

Wally was in the stage of waking up where you were fully awake but haven’t opened your eyes yet. The covers were over his head and he was trying to drift back to sleep but that was a lost cause. Loud voices could be heard throughout the house. Wally gave up trying to go back to sleep and threw the covers off. He sat up and decided that trying to tune it all out wasn’t working.

The wood creaked as he got out of bed and bent over on the floor to pull something out from under his bed. He had a ziplock bag that had some newspaper clippings in them. Wally was good friends with the librarian at his school and sometimes she would give him the daily newspaper when she was done with it. These clippings are all the articles and pictures he found of or about The Flash. He liked reading them and looking at them whenever he felt sad or wasn’t allowed to leave his room. Plus Aunt Iris wrote some so that upped the coolness.

The Flash was sort of like a beacon of hope for Wally. He was a reminder that there’s still good in this world. The Flash is kind and strong and always does what is _right._ Plus if The Flash can fight bad guy after bad guy and endure whatever came his way, then Wally can too.

Wally heard footsteps coming down the hall and scrambled to put all the paper back into the bag. He threw it back under his bed and hopped back under his covers to pretend to be sleeping just in case someone was coming into his room.

A couple seconds passed and his doorknob slowly turned. A soft creak told Wally that his door was being opened and the calmness of the act told Wally that it was his mom. Wally pulled his covers down just below his eyes to see his mom standing in the doorway. Once they made eye contact Mary entered and shut the door behind her.

“Good morning Wal.’’ Mary sat in the space at Wally's feet as he sat up again. “Hi, mom. What’s going on?"

He wasn’t sure what his mom was going to say. She looked...like she was okay but the type of okay people put on their face when they don't want anyone to know something is wrong. Wally had a bad habit of expecting the worst when he is unsure of a situation. A bunch of scenarios of what his mom might want to talk about went through his head. Some better than others. Wally came to the conclusion that his mom was most likely going to tell him they weren’t going to see Aunt Iris today. He was used to that though. Promises being made and then having to be broken because _he didn’t deserve it_ or _it was too much trouble_ or some other reason. That’s why he was a little surprised when his mom said this.

“I just wanted to tell you to start getting ready ‘cause we're going to go to Aunt Iris’ house early today.”

“Wait really?”

His mom gave a weak smile. “Yeah! You better hurry we’re leaving very soon.”

Wally excitedly hopped out of bed and began digging in his drawers asking stuff like what he should wear and what toys he should bring. Mary laughed a little bit to herself and then went and dug through his drawers while Wally began digging in his toy box instead. He had a small, little kids backpack that he was shoving toy cars, his latest lego creations, a few plastic animals, and other small miscellaneous things into.

Mary was in a rush to get out the door and they were on their way to Central in no time. Despite the hour drive, Iris living in Central City is actually kinda convenient. The shops that are available there are a lot better than the ones in Keystone. Hopefully, Mary would be able to find what she’s looking for. This is a really rare moment where she can actually go shopping without Wally so it’s now or never.

Thanks to Iris for making this even possible. If she hadn’t been able to watch Wally who knows when she would be able to squeeze in some secret birthday shopping. Mary is incredibly grateful for Iris’ flexibility. First Iris offers to watch Wally the night before. Then at 7 in the morning answers Mary’s phone call saying it's okay to come over 4 hours early? Seriously that's amazing, Mary tried to offer some money for the troubles but Iris didn’t want to accept it.

Mary parked her car on the side of the road in front of Iris’ house and followed Wally up to the door. He stood there for a moment before Mary told him to go ahead and knock. A few seconds went by before Iris opened up the door. She looked like she just rolled out of bed, but not in a bad way.

“Hey, you two! Come in! Come in!”

Iris stepped aside and let Mary and Wally enter before shutting the door.

“Thank you so much for doing this Iris you have no idea how much I appreciate it.”

“Oh, it’s no problem at all! Wally is such a sweet kid, can’t get enough of the little squirt.” Iris punctuated that sentence with a ruffle of Wally’s hair. Wally would have had more of a reaction but he was too busy hanging on to what his mom just said.

“What is she doing for you mom?”

“Oh um well I have to do a couple of things around town okay? I’ll only be gone for a few hours. Aunt Iris will be watching you for me.”

Wally gave a little “Oh…” in understanding. He seemed a little sad that his mom was going to be leaving him somewhere for a moment but then perked back up. His little arms wrapped around her waist in a hug as he said his goodbyes. She bent down and gave him a kiss on his forehead with a dramatic _“mwah”_ sound before saying stuff like _“I love you!”_ and _“Be good!”._ Mary then was out the door leaving Wally and Iris alone.

“Here Wall you want me to hang your bag up?”

Iris held out a hand to take Wally’s back pack. “Oh uh yeah sure.” He gave it to her and she hung it up on the coat rack that was by the door.

Wally followed Iris in the kitchen where she was asking him how he’s been and how school was going and things like that. Iris was fixing herself up a cup of coffee while Wally was telling her about this book he’s reading at school. Wally wasn’t really paying too much attention to Iris’ coffee until she poured _a lot_ of sugar in it. Usually, when his parents make coffee they use little spoons and scoop out sugar. Aunt Iris literally just tipped the bag and poured a bunch of sugar in then began to stir it all up.

“Woah, Aunt iris! That’s a lot of sugar!”

Iris laughed a little and said “Yeah it is! Barry has the biggest sweet tooth I’ve ever seen in my life! He likes his extra sugary.” After saying that Iris knocked on the window above the kitchen sink. That window lets you see into the backyard.

Wally tilted his head at that. “Barry? The guy from dinner? Why would you be making coffee for him?”

“Oh well because he lives here with me!”

Wally still didn’t look like he understood why this guy from dinner lived with his aunt, and Iris seemed to pick up on it so she elaborated.

“Cause...mmmm… well, you know how your parents live together? It’s like that.”

“Oh, sooo...he’s...he’s kinda like my uncle then right?”

Before Iris could respond the backyard door opened and Wally turned around to see Barry come inside. He looked like he rolled right out of bed too. He had a newspaper folded up in his hands he must have been reading it outside or something. His eyes landed on Wally and he gave a little smile.

“Oh hey Wally! I didn’t know that you were here so early!” Barry wasn’t expecting the little boys response as he just blurted out “You’re my uncle?”

Barry wasn’t quite sure what to say to that. I mean technically he was sorta?? It wasn’t official or anything since he and Iris weren’t married. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries by saying yes he was, and he definitely didn’t want to say no either. Family was very important to Iris so it was important to Barry too. He just wasn’t sure if they were there yet. His gaze flicked towards Iris to maybe get a little hint as to what to say. She was stifling in a laugh and just nodded.

“Um, yeah I guess I am, but you don’t have to call me uncle. You can call me whatever you want okay kiddo?”

“Okay.”

Iris handed Barry his coffee when a loud stomach growl was heard. She gave Barry a look “Do I have to remind you to eat?”

“What no! That wasn’t me. Did you eat breakfast this morning Wally?” He just shook his head no accompanied with a nuh-uh noise.

“Oh, what do you like to eat?”

Wally just kinda kicked his shoes around as he stared at them in thought. “Uhhmm...I like…” Iris decided to interject with some options. “We have cereal, I can make you some toast or a bagel with cream cheese? Um, we have-Oh you can help us make pancakes, wouldn’t that be fun?”

“Yeah!”

“Barry you wanna grab the pancake mix?” Iris began searching the cupboards for the necessary tools to make pancakes as Barry grabbed the pancake mix out of the pantry but continued looking for something else.

“Umm...Hey Iris? I don’t think we have syrup.”

Iris poked her head out of the cupboard she was looking in and looked at Barry before making her way over there to see for herself. “What? No, I could have sworn I seen a bottle just the other day...hm...dangit. Okay, how about you two get started on the pancakes and I’ll run to the store real fast and pick up a bottle.”

Before Iris had the chance to execute her plan Barry chimed in with another idea.“Don’t you think it’d be better if _I_ ran to the store real fast?”

Iris thought about that for a few short seconds before disagreeing. “No, I can just go. You make the perfect pancakes and this is a good time for you and Wally to, yanno, bond a little bit while I’m gone. It’ll only be like 30 minutes okay? I’ll be right back.”

Iris said the last part more to Wally then to Barry but nevertheless, she grabbed her keys put on her shoes and was out the door for maple syrup.

“Alright, Wally you ready to make the best pancakes you’ve ever had in your life?”

Wally jumped around a little bit in excitement “Yeah!”

Barry smiled at how happy and energetic the boy was, it was nice. He grabbed a mixing bowl out of the cupboard Iris left open and pulled a long mixing spoon out of a nearby drawer, along with a few other measuring cups. Wally was standing right next to Barry watching what was happening on the counter.

“Have you ever made pancakes before Wally?” Barry said as he started examining the back of the pancake mix box.

“No, I’ve made cupcakes with my mom before though, they were for my class and they were really good! We put sprinkles on top and it even had sprinkles inside the cake part too!

“Wow, that _does_ sound really good.” Barry then got an idea and put the box down so he can go sift through the pantry once more. “Hmm we don’t have any sprinkles but you know what does taste good when you put them in pancakes?” Wally tried to look behind Barry to see what he might be grabbing. He finally pulled back with a bag of what he was looking for in his hands. Once Wally got a look at it, he let out a big gasp.

“Chocolate chips?! I love chocolate chips! I’ve never had them in a pancake before.”

“Well you’re gonna love them even more in these pancakes, that's for sure.”

Barry poured some pancake mix in the bowl then picked up one of the measuring cups and filled it with water. He carefully brought it back over to Wally and asked if he’d like to pour it in. Wally happily took the cup and poured the water in the bowl. Barry began to stir the batter while giving Wally tips and pointers on how to know when the batter is ready before moving into small talk.

“So what do you like to do in your free time, Wally?”

Wally thought for a moment before listing all the things he loved to do. “I like to read books, build stuff with my legos, hmm I like to read the newspaper sometimes and watch the news, I like to play outside like The Flash does too.”

Barry found Wally’s hobbies very interesting to say the least. Not many kids Wally’s age say they like to watch the news and read the daily paper. “Oh really? That sounds like a lot of fun! What do you like to read about?”

“I like to read about The Flash in the paper but at my school they have tons of books about like, mysteries and mysterious things about um, the planet Earth. They’re pretty cool.

A couple tick sounds were heard as Barry turned on one of the stovetop burners. He placed a skillet on top of the burner to let it warm up for a little while.

“You know, I was reading the paper this morning and it had a really great section about how The Flash recently took down Captain Cold and Heat Wave in downtown Central.”

Wally's eyes got big as he got more excited by the second “Really? Can I- I mean, do you mind if I see?”

“Sure!” Barry reached for the paper on the counter next to him and flipped to the section that talked about The Flash. Wally was already examining it before it was even in his hands. Barry watched as the boy carefully held the paper and looked at it like it was the rarest of treasures. A smile slowly crept on his face as he read more and more. That made Barry feel really good inside that The Flash meant this much to the kid. Wally never explicitly said how much The Flash means to him but you could just tell. From the way Wally looked when The Flash was mentioned or when he talked about him. It was like the boy truly loved The Flash with all his heart.

“Aw, that's so cool!” Wally said as he finished reading. Even as he was done he still looked at the paper like he was memorizing every last detail.

“You can have it if you want.”

The little redhead looked up in disbelief. “Wait, I-I can have this? Like, for keeps?”

“Yeah, I’m done reading it anyway and it looks like you’ll appreciate it a lot more than I will.”

“Thanks Uncle Barry!! I’m gonna go put it in my backpack!” Wally said as he ran into the living room to grab his bag off the coat rack.

Barry smiled. Uncle Barry...He could definitely get used to hearing that. Iris’ family was becoming his family now and that felt amazing. As Wally came back into the kitchen Barry was just finishing pouring chocolate chips, some brown sugar, and a little bit of vanilla extract into different sized measuring cups for Wally to pour in.

“Here Wal you want to pour these into the bowl? I’m gonna butter up this pan before we start pouring the pancakes on.”

Wally did as instructed and poured the different ingredients into that batter, careful not to spill anything. He finished and Barry was still over by the stove. “Is it okay if I stir this a little?”

“Yeah go ahead.”

Wally reached for the spoon in the bowl but he was just a little too short to reach it and be able to stir effectively. Barry saw this and tried to help. “Here lemme-” He attempted to pick the boy up and set him on the counter. But before Barry could even try and lift him up he tensed up and gave a little yelp. Barry instantly backed off.

“Hey Hey It's okay.” Barry held up his hands and the look Wally gave him when he turned around really broke his heart. Wally looked scared and a little embarrassed. Barry kept his distance but tried again. This time he voiced what he was going to do before he actually did it.

“I just- I can set you on the counter if you want. To help you stir better? Or I can grab you a chair from the dining room?”

Wally looked at the dining table and the chairs lined up along side it for a few moments then back at Barry.

“Here I’ll get you a chair.” Desperate to clear the tension in the air a little bit Barry fetched a chair and brought it back to the kitchen. He pressed the front of it up against the counter and backed up to give Wally room to climb up on it. He stood on his knees and then was able to reach the bowl with ease.

“Is that better?”

“Yes, thank you.”

Wally started stirring and they fell silent. Until Wally began to ask some questions of his own.

“Remember when you and Aunt Iris came over to my house for dinner? And you said you’ve met The Flash?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have any other stories of The Flash? You must see him around town a lot right?”

“Um yes! I actually have more than you’d think! Let’s see...do you want to hear about how The Flash took down the Trickster? He had to really think on his feet for this one!”

Barry told Wally story after story as he cooked pancakes on the stove. He had a pretty big stack when Iris finally came home from the store. She was impressed by how many they managed to cook while she was gone but at the same time wasn’t. They all sat at the table and ate pancakes while Barry told more stories and Iris laughed at how he was totally getting into his story telling. Not too long later Wally’s mom finally arrived to pick up Wally. He was with Barry in the kitchen and her and Iris talked in the living room.

“Did you find anything he’d like?”

“Not anything super special. I came down to Central to see if they had any of those Flash figures cause I can’t find any in Keystone. But I had the same luck here. Nothing!”

“Oh my gosh Mary, you should’ve mentioned what you were looking for I’ll be right back.”

Iris disappeared into the hallway that led to her and Barry’s room. Then a few moments later came back out with a plastic box and handed it to Mary.

“Here.”

Mary took a look at it and realized it was one of The Flash figures she’s been looking for.

“How did you get one?”

“Well let's just say it helps to have two Flash fans in the family. Barry thought they were so cool and bought 3 of them. He _definitely_ wouldn’t mind if Wally had one.”

“Oh Iris you keep doing so much for me, what can I do to repay you?”

Iris took the box and put it in Mary's purse that was hanging on her arm.

“Nothing Mary, really It’s the least I can do.”

Wally’s voice could be heard from the kitchen and he said was going to go grab something out of his bag to show Barry. He ran out of the kitchen and then noticed his Mom by the front door. The little boy ran over and gave her a big hug and began telling her about all the fun stuff they did while she was gone.

“Woah, Woah slow down Wally! You can tell me all about it in the car okay?”

Iris grabbed the little backpack and handed it to Wally. They said their goodbyes and Barry promised to be at Wally’s birthday party in a few weeks. The little ray of sunshine that was Wally West was now on his way back to Keystone. The house already seeming to be losing the energy that was previously in it.

Barry sat on the back of their couch and sighed. Iris sat next to him “So I didn’t get the chance to ask how’d it go while I was gone?”

“Oh yeah, it went greaat. If you ignore the fact that I completely scared him. I can’t stop thinking about it.”

Iris found that a little hard to believe. Barry? Scaring a kid?

“What? What happened? You’re the most approachable person I have ever met how on Earth did you manage to scare him?”

“I-I don’t know! I just went to pick him up and put him on the counter cause he couldn’t reach the bowl to stir you know? And, And he just freaked out. I mean granted I didn’t give him much of a warning that I was going to do that but I still feel bad about it.”

Iris was silent for a few moments as she processed this. “Well...When Mary called me this morning she said her and Rudy got in a big fight. That’s why her and Wally came over so early because she didn’t want him to have to listen to it. Maybe all the yelling had him a little tense. I don’t think he’s scared of you Barry. Plus he was so happy talking to you when I got back. And when we were at the table eating? He loves you! Trust me if he was scared of you or anyone else he definitely wouldn’t be as open as he is. _And_! If it weren’t for you, he wouldn’t be getting a Flash figure for his birthday. Mary was looking all over for one so I gave her one of yours.”

“Oh, you did?”

“Yeah! He’s going to love it.”

Barry gave a little smile “Hm, I think I just thought of something he'll like even better.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter Barry and Iris will make the trip to Keystone for Wally's Birthday!


	4. Give and Take

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Wally get really close, but just like all good things in Wally's life, they don't last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for mentions of emotional and physical abuse nothing is actually described though.
> 
> So I made an effort to make this chapter a lot longer than all the other ones, and hopefully more eventful!

Tiny rocks being crunched under tiers were heard as Rudy pulled into their driveway. Rudy had taken Wally to the park for a portion of the day while Mary decorated parts of the house for his birthday. Surprisingly his dad was super fun at the park. He tried to teach Wally how to skip rocks in the pond _(tried, tried is the key word here. Skipping rocks is harder than it looks!)_ and watched him play on the playground. Wally loved when he has good times like this with his dad. It made the sad times seem not as bad. Well at least at this moment.

Wally got out of the back seat and followed his dad into the house. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary when he walked in but as Wally went deeper into the house he caught a glimpse of something brightly colored. In the dining room there were balloons tied to the back of all the chairs and a cake in the middle of the table which was covered with one of those cheap plastic party covers. Mary was in the kitchen cleaning up a few things when she noticed Wally run in with a big smile.

“Woah Mom! Look it all those balloons!” he ran right past Mary to go inspect what was on the table and noticed some little boxes with cute bows on top. “Are these presents for me??”

Mary set down the hand towel she was holding and sat at the table next to where Wally was standing. She gave him a warm smile and said “Of course they are!” Mary grabbed one and scooted it towards Wally “You want to open them? You can if you want.”

Wally gave a little gasp of excitement “Really? Thanks Mom!” He climbed up onto the chair next to his mom and began to open his presents. The way the presents were unwrapped were actually very tedious at first. Wally peeled the tape and unfolded the paper in an effort not to rip anything. He began to just rip the paper instead once Mary got a little impatient and said it was okay to rip them open.

Wally was so happy with the gifts he got, legos, a couple new books and a few other small little things. Mary scooted the last present towards Wally and smiled a little bit cause she knew he was going to love this one the most. A little piece of the front of the box was ripped and Wally covered it back up again just as fast as he had ripped it. Big green eyes darted up and looked at Mary in shock.

“...No way…”

Wally slowly peeled back the piece he ripped to see a partial view of a plastic Flash. “No way! No way! No way!!”

The rest of the paper was peeled off in a heartbeat and Wally admired the toy in his hands. “I thought the grocery store was sold out!”

“Well, luckily your Aunt was able to grab us one in Central!”

Wally hugged the box before getting out of the chair to go hug his mom “Thank you mom!!”

He ran into the living room where his dad was watching T.V then stopped at the side of his dad’s chair. “Thanks Dad.”

Rudy gave Wally a little pat on the shoulder “Yeah yeah, you better show your mom and I that you deserve these gifts or we’ll take them away. Got it?”

Despite his dad’s ever lasting negativity Wally still managed to keep a little smile on his face.

“Got it.”

Mary was observing from the table in the dining room and frowned a little. Can’t Wally have anything without having to prove himself worthy? For god's sake he was just a little boy. She tries really hard to scoot around Rudy’s rules knowing full well it would be useless to try and veto them. However sometimes it seems like whatever she does to build Wally up Rudy goes right ahead and tears him back down. Wally seemed happy when he got back from the park so that must have gone well but moments like those are very few. Poor kid is always striving to earn those nice moments but they should be _all_ the time. Not once in a blue moon. Mary was shook from her thoughts when her cell rang from the kitchen. She got up and seen the caller I.D was Iris.

“Hey Iris!”

Wally heard that name from the living room and ran into the kitchen almost expecting to see Aunt Iris in there. All he saw was his mom on the phone though. He stood next to his mom swinging a lower cabinet open and close waiting for her to be done. She gave a few Uh-huh’s and okay’s as she listened to what Iris was saying.

“Wait...You actually got to talk to him?...and he said yes?...Wow...To be completely honest I did not think that he would be able to pull that off!...Wow okay...I can’t believe you were able to get a hold of him...okay...See you soon.”

Mary hung up the phone and Wally was as curious as ever.

“When Is Aunt Iris coming mom?”

“She will be a little late. Her and Barry are just leaving his work now. They got to talk to someone very special there and convinced him to stop by to wish you happy birthday! They said that he would be here very soon and we should go outside and wait for him.”

Wally jumped around in excitement and ran for the front door “What are we waiting for mom! Come on!”

Mary went after Wally and they both sat on the curb in front of their house. Wally was about to explode with anticipation and excitement. The wait was killing him, he just wanted to know who this mystery visitor was. He didn’t know anybody that lived in Central besides Aunt Iris and Uncle Barry, so who the heck could this guy be?

“Mom do you know who the guy we're waiting for is?”

Mary put on a thinking face like she was pondering the answer “Hmm well you could say I know who it is but I’ve never met him.”

Wally tugged on the sleeve of her shirt and whined “Moooom! Just tell me, I have to know!”

Mary laughed and pried Wally’s fingers off her shoulder “Hey! We’ll see him soon enough he should be here any second now probably.”  

The two went back to silence as Wally bounced his legs on the concrete. About a minute or two passed by before a giant gust of wind all of a sudden whooshed in their faces. Wally screwed his eyes shut from the unexpected force then opened them back up to see The Flash standing right infront of him. Wallys eyes went big and his jaw almost dropped.

The Flash was standing right in front of him.

 _The Flash_ was standing right in front of him!!

“Good evening! You must be Wally West!”

Wally practically melted into a puddle of happiness. Not only was The Flash right here in front of his eyes but he knew his name too! The kid had a huge smile on his face as his mouth hung open. He glanced over at his mom and she was smiling to, he then looked back at The Flash and gave his answer.

“Y-Yeah! Yeah that’s me!

Wally straightened his shirt and wiped the bangs out of his face. He wanted to make a good first impression and Barry found that extremely adorable. The speedster crouched down in front of Wally and held his hand out.

“Nice to meet you Wally! Your uncle told me it was your birthday today. How old are you now?”

Wally still had a open mouthed daze on his face and a couple seconds went by before he finally snapped out of it and grabbed The Flash’s hand and shook it.

“I’m si- I mean seven now. I- _sorry,_ you’re just like, my favorite superhero ever and I just can’t believe you’re here! Did you run here? How did you know where our house was?

“Aw thanks kid! And yeah” Flash held up a post-it note in between his index and middle finger so what was written on it could be visible to Wally. “It was a good thing your uncle wrote down your address for me or I might’ve gotten lost!”

Of course, Barry did not need the note at all casue well, _he wrote it_ and he just made it for identity purposes. This is a major stunt he was pulling. Who knows if Wally or Mary would be able to recognize him. His mask isn’t the most concealing thing in the world and even his voice which was a little bit deeper than usual might be a give away. However when Iris was talking about how Wally’s parents were fighting a few weeks ago, Barry just had the inexplicable need to make this one of the best birthdays he’s ever had. Iris at first wasn’t completely onboard with this idea and even Barry himself had his doubts on how well he’d be able to pull it off. When he first showed up and started his _“Yeah I’ve definitely never seen you people in my life and you’ve never seen me”_ act, he scanned Mary and Wally’s faces for any sign of recognition. It was a relief that there was none but he better make this visit quick just incase.

Barry was about to say something when a look flashed on Wally’s face like he just got an idea. The boy turned and ran into the house saying something along the lines of _Hang on a sec I’ll be right back don't go anywhere._ The Flash stood up and looked towards Mary for a hint as to where Wally was going but she was just as clueless has he was. A few moments later Wally came back out holding a small box in his hands. He held it up so that The Flash could see what it was.

“Can you show me how fast you can build this?”

Barry leaned forward a little and inspected the box. “A lego airplane?”

Mary gave a short embarrassed laugh. “Wally, dear, I’m sure The Flash doesn't have time to stick around and play legos.”

Mary’s concern was just waved off. “Nah it's fine. Besides when you can move as fast as I can-”

Barry took the box from Wally and before he could even register that it was out of his hands, it was replaced with the finished product.

“-time is something you have plenty of!” Wally went wide eyed at the finished lego airplane in his hands while Barry put the instruction booklet back in the box and handed it back to Wally.

“Woah! That was amazing!! You did it so fast I didn’t even see you make it!”

All of a sudden Rudy’s voice came from inside. Wally accidentally left the front door open so you could hear him pretty well. “Mary! I need you in here for a second!”

Both Mary and Wally’s whole demeanor changed when Rudy’s voice was heard. However Mary masked it a lot better than Wally did. Nevertheless she stood up to make her way inside. “I’ll be right back, while I’m gone I’ll grab my phone and maybe get a few pictures before you go? Is that okay?”

The Flash nodded “Yes, of course.”

Mary headed inside leaving Wally and Barry alone. Barry just realized he dosen’t have much to talk about with Wally when he’s The Flash because he’s not supposed to know much about the boy. He still attempted a conversation though.

“So Wally, got any special birthday wishes?”

Wally kept his eyes on the lego creation in his hands as he gave his answer. “Well...meeting you was one of my only wishes but...I wish, I wish that you didn’t have to go.”

Barry wasn’t sure what had suddenly changed in the boy but whatever it was he didn’t like it. A frown was something he never wanted to see on Wally’s face. He was such a bright and wonderful kid it just broke his heart to see him sad. As much as he wanted to make Wally happy, The Flash definitely could _not_ hang around all day. He figured Wally just wanted to spend more time with his favorite superhero. That wasn’t necessarily the case though.

“Aw well, I’ll always be much closer than you would think! I’m never far away from _anything._ ”

Barry smiled a little at what he said casue hey that was pretty clever, but Wally didn’t seem to appreciate it as much. In fact he didn’t even respond, he still kept his eyes on the lego airplane he was holding.

That was...a little concerning.

Barry crouched down in front of the boy so he can actually get a look at his face. His eyes were all watery like he was about to start crying any second.

“Hey what’s wrong?” Wally gave a really big sniff sound as he composed himself a little.

“I-I wish you could stay...and keep us safe...but you have to leave now.” Wally’s voice was getting shaky.

“Oh Wally, I’ll always be here to protect you and everyone in Keystone. Central City isn’t the only city I keep an eye on you know...Here lemme see your hand.”

Wally scrunched his eyebrows in confusion and finally looked The Flash in the eyes again, then down at the hand he was holding out. The boy slowly gave him his hand. His fingers slightly curled in as he was unsure but then set his hand on top of the red gloved hand in front of him.

“Okay, now, close your eyes.”

Wally squinted his eyes in suspicion and cracked a little smile. Then closed his eyes. He felt...something slide onto one of his fingers. The Flash’s hand let go of Wally’s and he took that as a sign of whatever The Flash was doing was done.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Sure.”

Wally opened his eyes and looked at his hand. There was a golden ring on his hand with a little lightning bolt on it. Wally gave a little gasp and pulled his hand closer to his face to inspect it.

“What is it?”

“It’s a ring where I keep my costume in. There’s nothing in that one since I’m obviously wearing it right now. I have tons more at home, but I want you to have this one okay? And help me keep an eye on Keystone?”

Okay, that was super corny but hey he got the kid to smile!

"Yes, I promise I will!" Wally gave The Flash the biggest hug he could muster. His arms tightly wrapped around The Flash. Barry was taken a little off guard but hugged him back. One hand ruffled the back of Wally’s hair as he pulled away.

“Thanks Flash!”

Barry could see the happiness in his eye’s and the gratitude in the boys voice. It absolutely warmed his heart. Behind Wally he seen Mary come back out into the front yard with her phone.

Barry stood up and said “Alright kid you ready for a picture?”

Wally turned around to see his mom making her way over to them. Barry didn’t see it but Wally immediately but subtly took the ring off and shoved it in his pocket.

“Sorry for taking so long Flash I’m sure you’ve got lots of stuff to do” Mary said as she was opening the camera on her phone. “Alright ready?”

Barry has taken countless photos with people and fans as The Flash he could probably do this in his sleep. So yeah he was ready. He crouched down beside Wally and put an arm on his shoulder in a generic kinda way as Mary took a few photos. She lowered the phone as she finished. “That should do it!” Before she was able to thank The Flash for taking the time out of his day to show up he gave Wally’s hair a little ruffle, wished him happy birthday and sped off.

* * *

 

The birthday party was more or less a success. Iris and Barry arrived later that evening and stayed for about an hour or two. Wally wasn’t necessarily the party animal Barry expected him to be though. When they first arrived he expected the boy to rave about his meeting with The Flash, and he did in some regard, but he didn’t mention the ring or anything. In fact when they got there he wasn’t even wearing it. That was odd, however he most likely put it away so he didn’t damage it or lose it. Which was probable, his lack of energy could also definitely be explained how late it was. It wasn’t _super_ late but to a 7 year old time is different.

Everyone was sitting in the livingroom and Rudy was telling this great story from work. Surprisingly he’s an interesting story teller. You wouldn’t know it by looking at the guy but he can be very humorous. Barry was sitting at the end of the couch listening to Rudy’s story when Iris who was sitting next to him tapped on his shoulder.

“I can’t see his face is he asleep?”

Barry looked down at the redhead in between them who was curled up against his arm. “Yeah, he must have dozed off.”

Mary put down the glass she was drinking out of on the coffee table and started to get up from where she was sitting. “Aw, I better put him to bed. I’m sure your arm must be asleep too.”

Barry gave his arm a little tiny shake just enough to see if it was asleep or not, careful not to wake up Wally. “Actually it’s not surprisingly. I can put him to bed if you want though Mary. He’s already basically in my arms and me and Iris are probably gonna take off soon anyway.”

Mary seemed kind of hesitant at first but ended up letting him. As Barry lifted up the boy and held him Iris made a few remarks about what a great dad Barry is gonna be someday. He just smiled at that and continued his journey to Wally’s room. The door creaked a bit as Barry gently made his way into the room.

Barry stepped around some of the stuff on the ground and finally made it to the side of Wally’s bed and tucked him in. This was the first time he's ever been in Wally's room. It was pretty basic not many decorations up. Everything was put away either in draws or boxes besides the few toys on the ground that the boy was probably playing with earlier. On his way out Barry smiled when passed by the little flash figure on the ground 

He then left the room and entered the living room again. Just like the last time they were here for dinner they said their thanks and farewells. Iris mentioned having Wally over again because she didn’t get enough of him this visit. That’s when Rudy interjected.

“Yeah no, he is on a strict study schedule for school. I got I call from his teacher last Monday saying his work is slipping and that he’s not understanding it as well anymore. So until he gets better at it, weekends are gonna be spent on school work.”

Here we go with this school crap again. Barry did not see how forcing a kid to study 24/7 would help. All work and no play is just as bad as all play no work. That’s when Barry got an idea.

“What subject is he not understanding?”

“All of them I guess, he get’s these packets that have pretty much everything the kid is learning about in them and he has the week to complete it at home. His teacher was just talking about the packets and how he’s not participating much in class anymore. So I figure he’s just not spending enough time on his work.”

“Maybe this weekend I can help tutor him if you think it’ll help? Maybe he just needs some one on one time. Wouldn’t hurt to try it out.”

Barry really hoped Rudy would let him tutor Wally. Rudy’s teaching ways didn’t seem to be...helpful to say the least. Wally would probably do a lot better with him as a tutor then independent studying. And at age 7? That seems a little counterproductive. If this is how Rudy always treats school no wonder the kid is slipping.

“I don’t know...I guess that could work, nothing I've been telling him has been getting through so whatever you can do would be a miracle.”

* * *

 

Honestly the only miracle was the fact that Rudy allowed Wally to come over multiple weekends in a row. The tutoring thing seemed to be a success! Or at least that's what Barry thought. Wally seemed to be understanding what Barry was telling him when he was at their house, but what Barry didn’t know is that it all went out the window by the time the weekend was over. So improvement wasn’t as big as what was desired but Wally was getting there. Wally is a super bright kid so Barry had a lot of faith in him. Plus Barry made sure to make studying fun, turning it into a game so school would hopefully be more interesting for Wally.

Currently, the two were sitting at the kitchen table wrapping up what they were working on. It was getting close to the time where Barry should take Wally back up to Keystone. The sound of a bag being unzipped was heard as Barry opened Wally’s backpack to put his books in while Wally put some papers in his folder.

“Thanks again for helping me with my homework Uncle Barry.”

“Yeah anytime!” Wally handed him the folder and he put it in his bag then zipped it back up. “We better be on our way back to Keystone soon it’s getting kinda late and your parents are expecting us.”

Barry got up and grabbed Wally's rain coat and shoes that were by the door while Wally slowly followed behind him.

“Uncle Barry?”

“Hm?” Barry turned around to see Wally a little ways away. He was rolling his hands up in the bottom of his shirt.

“Can I stay at your house a little longer?”

“Hm, how come?”

“I don’t really want to go back to my house.”

“How about this, next time you come over after we’re done with your packet I can take you to do something fun after for doing such a good job okay?  Barry set down Wally’s bag and held his coat open so he can stick his arms in. He hesitated to put it on for a few seconds then slipped his arms in.

“Alright.”

Wally slid his shoes on and Barry grabbed his bag.

“Coat? Check. Shoes? Check. Bag? Check. Homework? Check. Hmm, I think that's everything. You ready Wal?”

Wally quickly nodded “Yup.”

“Alrighty let's go!”

Barry turned the doorknob and let a giant gust of wind in. It was absolutely _pouring_ outside. It was probably at the least sprinkling when he drove to pick up Wally but now it was flat out torrential raining. The wind was blowing some of the rain inside the house and so Barry quickly shut the door. His back was pressed up against the cold wood and Wally stood in front of him wide eyed.

“How are we gonna get to the car in all the rain?”

“Well...I-I don’t think we can! Not without getting soaked at least. It’s not safe to drive out in this weather either. All the rain would make it very hard to see where we're going.”

“Then how are we gonna get home?”

Barry walked into the living room and began to turn on the news. Wally followed him and sat on one of the comfy chairs.

“I guess we’re just going to have to stay inside until it passes over. If it wasn’t raining earlier I wouldn’t be surprised if this storm was caused by Weather Wizard. I really _really_ hope it isn’t, but you never know with that guy.”

Wally immediately sat up “Weather Wizard? You really think it’s ‘casue of him??”

Finally, the T.V turned on and Barry quickly turned to the news channel “I’m not sure I guess we’ll have to see.”

There were two reporters sitting at the news desk talking about weather safety and what to do in case of home damage or flooding. Nothing about Weather Wizard. Well, nothing yet at least. God even if there was what was he going to do? Leave Wally here by himself because hey! Your uncle is The Flash. No, no no that simply wasn’t an option. Even if he could slip away without letting Wally find out he’s The Flash, there’s no way he was going to leave Wally here by himself. Iris was at work and won't be back for another hour. His only option is to wait and hope the police have it under control.

That’s a disaster waiting to happen.

“This just in, more information has been gathered about the storm cell above Central City and it looks like the cause of it is none other than the rogue member, Weather Wizard. He is located atop of the Central City Bank and downtown Central is being evacuated as we speak. It is still unknown if any other members of The Rogues are there as well. Police are trying their best to control the situation and get as many people to safety as they can until The Flash arrives. Here is a live video feed coming from-”

Great, just great. Wonder what else is going to happen on this week's episode of _How Can the Universe Conspire Against Barry Allen._ At least if all of downtown is being evacuated Iris should be on her way home. Barry pulled his phone out of his pocket and called her. He nervously tapped his foot as he listened to the phone ring.

It rang.

And rang.

But nobody answered.

Barry started to get seriously worried as he thought of every different scenario that might have happened. He hung up and tried again. Just like the last time it rang and rang for what seemed like an eternity to Barry. Finally when the ringing stopped and he expected to hear her beautiful voice, all he heard was the robotic voice saying he’s reached her voicemail. Barry hung up again and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

Then he tried again. He stood up and paced in the living room to get rid of some of his restless energy.

Finally after a few rings “Barry? Are you okay?”

Barry let out a sigh of relief “Am I okay? Of course I’m okay! What about you, where are you?”

“I'm fine, I’m on my way home right now. It’s raining bullets out here, I can barely see a foot in front of me. Have you taken Wally home?”

“No, we’re both at the house waiting for you, please _please_ be careful.”

Wally sat quietly and listened to Uncle Barry talk on the phone. He assumed that he was talking to Aunt Iris. It was very...interesting listening to Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris talk to each other. Throughout Wally’s visits, he began to realize that things in his home weren’t that great. The way his mom and dad act and speak to each other is very unloving when you compare it to Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris. Wally’s never heard Uncle Barry yell or get angry. He’s never heard him call Auntie bad names. He’s never harmed her either. Every Time Wally sees his uncle put a hand on Aunt Iris it’s always in a gentle and loving manner. Never with the intent to hurt. Wally couldn’t help but wonder what made his parents not love each other anymore. A lot of times he feels like it’s his fault his family is the way it is.

“I love you too, see you soon.”

Barry hung up the phone and turned to Wally who was just staring at him.

“Um well, Aunt Iris should be here any minute! She’s going to watch you while I go help out at the police station okay?”

“Why do you have to go help out at the police station?”

Barry sat down again a little more relaxed now that the situation is a tad bit more in his favor. He still felt bad for just sitting around when he could be doing something but that couldn’t be helped.

“Well some people might have gotten hurt, or buildings might have been damaged so I’m sure the police station will need as many hands as it can get.”

“What about The Flash? Once he gets there he can fix everything and get the bad guy really really fast. He doesn't even need any help.”

Barry smiled a little bit at Wally’s endless faith in The Flash even when he was sitting right next to him doing absolutely nothing to help the crisis

“Even The Flash needs help sometimes. He may be fast but he can’t do everything himself. He and the police have to work together to take down bad guys most of the time.”

Wally kinda scrunched his eyebrows like he didn’t understand or like what Barry was saying. “But...he’s a superhero? He doesn't need help, he’s really strong and fast and, and he can do anything he wants to do all by himself.”

Barry has probably heard that tons of times from many different kids but there was something that really struck him about the way Wally said it. It was like he refused to believe anything else. Like the fact, The Flash might need a helping hand was an absurd thought that couldn’t possibly be true.

“That may be true but everybody needs help sometimes Wally. Asking for help doesn't make you weak or anything. In fact asking for help is one of the bravest things a person can do.”

Wally still looked like he didn’t believe it then his expression softened. “You think so?”

“Definitely.”

Wally opened his mouth like he wanted to say something then closed it again. As they were waiting for Iris, Barry kept watching the news and Wally pulled out one of his library books to read. He hadn’t bothered to take off his shoes or his rain coat yet but seemed content wearing them. Finally, Iris arrived back home and Barry rushed up and gave her a big hug. Iris pulled away gave him an understanding look.

“Stay safe okay?”

Barry nodded and was out the door.

* * *

 

Finally Barry’s good karma paid off and none of the other rogues were at the scene. Just Weather Wizard versus The Flash. Easy enough.

Mostly.

The fight with Mark Mardon lasted quite a while. And if the fight lasted a while then clean up was going to be even longer. The bank was in the eye of his storm so it didn’t suffer _too_ much damage. However, a lot of surrounding buildings were either covered in ice, or struck by lightning, or damaged from the heavy rain. Which was a lot of damage to fix and a lot of hurt people to steer to medical attention.

Barry wasn’t able to trudge back home until later that night. He opened the front door and walked into the dark house. Iris must have gone to bed already. No sign of Wally either. She must have driven him home after the storm stopped and Barry was cleaning up the city.

He made his way into their room and peeled off his wet clothes and put on a clean pair of sweats. Carefully he tried to slide into bed without waking Iris up then after a while finally drifted to sleep.

Poor Barry was probably only asleep for an hour maybe two before he heard someone screaming out in the living room. Jolting up rapidly trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes, he checked next to him to see Iris safe. She started to wake up due to the noise and sat up too. It took her a second to fully wake up before she ran out into the living room.

“Oh my god Wally!”

“Wally?! What is-Iris wait!” Barry got out of bed untangling himself from the blankets and almost tripping in the process. He turned the light in the living room on and seen Iris was on the side of the couch trying to pacify a kicking and screaming Wally. His eyes were open but didn’t seem to recognize who exactly was trying to calm him down.

_“Stop it! STOP IT! GET AWAY FROM ME!”_

Iris was trying to get a hold of the boy but he was kicking and thrashing all over the place. None of Iris’ words were getting to him. Barry decided it was best to intervene when Iris was about an inch from getting kicked straight in the face. Wally was just about sitting up when Barry stepped in. He held onto Wally while he desperately tried to get away. Barry knew these kinds of nightmares all too well. Whatever he was dreaming about was clouding his vision even when he was “awake” He gently tried to talk Wally out of it softly as opposed to Iris trying to talk to him over his screaming.

“Shhh Wally it’s okay, you’re safe now, It’s okay sh sh shh”

Wally slowly stopped trying to sink deeper into the couch and his screaming subsided into sobs. Barry took this as he was finally shaking off the last bits of his nightmare and pulled the kid into a tight embrace. Wally clung onto Barry grabbing onto his shirt for dear life as if someone was going to pull them apart any second.

Barry continued to soothe Wally as he rocked back and forth a little bit. The boy was significantly calmer now but he still sobbed and whimpered into Barry’s shirt. It honestly scared Barry a little bit how tightly Wally was holding on to him. He was afraid if he started to let go he was going to lose it again.

This went on for a few more minutes and Wally’s sobbing finally subsided into the occasional hiccup. Iris came back from the kitchen with a glass of ice water just in case Wally needed a drink of something after all that screaming.

Barry continued to hold onto Wally until he felt his grip soften.

“You alright buddy?”

It took about a good thirty seconds for Wally to manage out an answer in between sniffles. “I’m s-sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry Wal, you didn’t do anything wrong. Just breathe okay? Aunt Iris has some water for you if you want to take a drink.”

Wally finally pulled away from Barry as Iris handed him the cup full of water. He probably drank more or less half of what was in it before handing it back.

“Do you want to talk about what you were dreaming about?” Iris said as she took the cup back. Wally just shook his head no. Then shook it no again after Iris asked if he was sure. Iris and Barry ended up taking Wally into bed with them and letting him sleep in the middle. Luckily the bed was big enough. The only thing that Barry could complain about was that Iris made him keep his nightstand lamp on. But Barry wasn’t going to complain about it. If it made Wally feel safer that was all that mattered.

Barry was the last to go to sleep. He laid there for a few moments looking at the two in front of him. Sometimes he forgot that Wally wasn’t actually his kid and that in the morning he would have to take him back to Keystone, But damn he might as well be. Barry loved the kid to pieces and when he and Iris are side by side it’s kinda hard to believe that he isn’t her kid either.

They have the same beautiful green eyes and spotted freckles. The same fiery personality.

He’d only met Wally a handful of months ago but he couldn’t imagine life without the kid. Next weekend they were definitely going to do something super fun. Wally’s been working hard so a reward seems in order. Unfortunately, that’s not what Rudy thought.

* * *

 

It was the end of the school week and Wally was in his room looking at the little ring The Flash gave him. It was one of the only things he cared about that hadn’t been taken away. He had made the decision from the moment he got the thing that he would keep it a secret from everyone. So nobody would be able to take it away from him. However, his flash figure and multiple other things were taken and thrown away. Or at least that’s what Wally was told.

His dad was very mad at him for not doing well in school still even after he’s spent so much time at Uncle Barry’s studying and doing homework. Mad enough that he put a nasty bruise on Wally’s face for _not doing anything he’s supposed to_ . Even though he was! He’s been trying really really hard! With school and at home, it's just that no matter how hard he tries it’s never good enough. It’s never what _he_ wants. He was even mad for what happened last week at Aunt Iris’ house. Apparently, they had told his parents about his nightmare and how he woke them up in the middle of the night. Wally’s dad for some reason didn’t appreciate that.

When Wally came back home that morning he didn’t even get a glad you’re okay from him. His mom was worried sick though when Iris called to inform them they wouldn’t be bringing Wally home due to weather conditions. So she was really the only one that showed any real concern.

Isn’t she always.

Wally spent the entire day in his room bored out of his mind. He was supposed to be leaving to go to Uncle Barry’s soon to work on school stuff. He felt like he has been waiting forever so he went out into the living room to ask his dad when Uncle Barry would be coming. He’d ask his mom instead but she was out of the house running errands, and because of the bruise on his face Wally wasn’t allowed to go with.

As he entered the living room he saw his dad was working on filling out some papers for his job. Wally had no idea what they were for though. Careful not to interrupt anything his dad was working on he started to speak. “Hey dad can I ask you a question?”

Rudy didn’t spare a glance “Sure.”

“Um, Is Uncle Barry coming over soon? I feel like it’s been a really long time and he should be here.” Wally fidgeted hoping he doesn't say anything wrong.

“He’s not coming.” Rudy said that like it was old news but Wally couldn’t believe it.

“He’s not? How come?”

“He says tutoring you is a waste of time. Honestly, I don’t blame him though, he’s been at it for weeks. I’m sure he could only tolerate so much. ”

If you were in the room you could probably hear Wally’s heart shatter

“H-he said that?

“Yeah he did so long story short _he’s not coming._ Now get out of here, I have a lot of work to do.”

The poor kid stood there for a moment unable to believe what his dad just said. He stood there for maybe too long when Rudy looked up from his papers and just gave Wally a look.

Wally turned and ran to his room. As soon as he was there he shut the door and leaned against it. He tried really hard not to start crying but he started to cry anyway. He couldn’t help himself, why would Uncle Barry say those things? He must have been just like his dad nice in front of everyone else and mean in private.

Wally should have known he was going to let Uncle Barry down eventually. He thought that maybe he was different though. That maybe just maybe he had found the few people in his life that will care for him and protect him no matter what. Guess that was too good to be true.

But you know what? If he truly meant those words…

_Wally was glad he didn’t have to see Uncle Barry_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've read a lot of Wally abuse stories where he gets perfect grades because his dad wants him to do good or else, but I wanted to take a spin on that? Of course, he's probably scared to death of disappointing his dad due to bad school performance so he would want to do well, however, kids who are experiencing trauma have a very hard time learning new things and concentrating in class so I really wanted to incorporate that somehow.
> 
> That and along with a lot of other little red flags I threw in are just not being recognized as trauma responses by anyone. Which is why I think Wally got upset when the flash had to leave because here's this hero, that can literally save him and his mom right in front of him,,, but he's not allowed to say anything which must have been frustrating for him.
> 
> And at the end of course Wally is gonna have a lot of pent up anger and emotions in the next chapters, I'm very sorry lol
> 
> Also, I feel like I should add I usually work on these chapters at night and a lot of mistakes go over my head so if something doesn't make sense or there's a mistake please feel free to comment!


	5. Quick Fix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally gets into it with a school bully, makes a new friend and has an awkward car ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a disclaimer this takes place a few years in the future! Wally is now 11 instead of 7 and attends middle school in Keystone. I tried writing a chapter while he was still a little kid but it was just a lot easier to have a time skip and get the story started.
> 
> TW for cursing, violence and a vague mention of smoking

Wally was walking down the sidewalk on his way home from school. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was lightly chewing on the wire to his earbuds that were plugged into his crappy iPod. He really liked just listening to music when he walked home but the only downside was his iPod only had like 4 songs on it so they got really old after a while.

Trying to get his steps to fit in each sidewalk square without stepping on a crack was another thing he mindlessly did while walking home. He wasn’t sure if it made him walk faster or slower but he did it anyway.

Wally’s eyes were glued to the sidewalk when he all of a sudden someone yanked his backpack backward and he fell to the ground. The poor kid yanked his earbuds out and scrambled to turn around and see who did it.

_Oh…_

Wally isn’t exactly the most popular person at his middle school and being in the lowest grade makes him a prime subject for 8th and 7th graders to push around if they wished. This particular 7th grader and a few of his buddies seem to thrive on making a few of the 6th graders suffer.

Unfortunately, this includes Wally.

“What the fuck is your problem, Dolly?”

Wally was still on the ground not sure what to say or do.

“I, uh what-what are you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. You were gone for three days this week. How was I supposed to get my homework from you, huh?”

Oh jeez, Wally cringed at himself for forgetting about that. Even if there was absolutely nothing he could’ve done, and honestly there wasn’t. He had no access to what the homework was in his absence so there really wasn’t anything he could’ve done if he had remembered.

This was the most cliche thing ever and Wally hated it. Oh yeah, the bully has the smart kid do his homework for him and if he doesn't then the smart kid gets bullied extra hard. It was so overused but Wally was honestly a little scared right now. He wished that he was as good with school work as he used to be.

Which wasn’t very good.

If he was bad again he wouldn’t have bullies pestering him for homework. Actually no he takes it back, if he was bad again he would have a different kind of bully on his case and all his hard work would have gone to waste. All the studying and note cramming. He had tried to have his teacher help him out and tutor him a bit, but that made Wally really...sad for some reason. So he didn’t do that. He just did it all on his own. If a little bullying is the price to pay for hard work you know what? It was better than whatever else he would have to deal with for lousy work.

“Um, I’m sorry Ryan I just really spaced on it, but I can do all the days I missed tonight and give it to you tomorrow?”

Ryan gave a look like he just spoke gibberish then scoffed.

“Oh, you spaced?”

Wally was taken by surprise when the collar of his shirt was yanked and he was pulled off the ground and extremely close to the bully's face. Wally screwed his eyes shut and put his cheek on his shoulder expecting some kind of hit or screaming to occur.

“You think you can just-”

Ryan stopped talking and took a whiff of Wally’s shirt he had in his hand. Wally opened his eyes and looked to see what he was doing. One of Ryan's friends was just as curious as Wally was. However, unlike staying quiet like Wally, he asked: “What is it?” Ryan stopped smelling Wally’s shirt, then pulled back and said: “This bitch smokes cigarettes!”

A few of Ryan’s friends were oohing like they all made a fantastic discovery.

“What? No, I don’t!”

“Yeah? How come you reek like them then?”

“I-I don’t know.”

“Yeah right just like you spaced on my homework huh? I bet you have some on you right now don’t you? Hey guys why don’t you check his bag, I bet Wallace over here is just dying to share with us.”

A few of the other boys took Wally’s backpack off and started dumping it out while Wally tried to get Ryan to let go of his shirt.

“Seriously guys, come on! I don’t smoke and there’s nothing in my bag! N- Hey!”

The other guy who wasn’t going through Wally’s bag reached inside his pockets and only pulled out his cracked iPod and some spare change from lunch.

“Well at least if he doesn't have cigarettes we got an iPod, that’s cool.” The kid who pulled it out handed it to Ryan.

Wally tried to grab it back multiple times with no success “Uh, no you don’t that’s mine!”

Ryan pushed Wally back down in the pile of books and papers scattered on the sidewalk.

“Why don’t you go home and smoke with your shitty parents, that’s why you smell so bad right Dolly?”

Ryan laughed and turned around to see his friends appreciate the joke he just made.

Wally, however, was not laughing. He was _livid._ Being accused of smoking with his parents, getting pushed around, his iPod getting stolen, getting called _Dolly,_ which is supposed to be an insulting version of his name, is just too much any sane person can deal with in the span of 10 minutes. Wally got off the ground and swung a fist right in Ryan’s face.

Ryan reeled back and his group was going nuts. They were laughing and yelling. Now it was Ryan’s turn to get mad. He put a finger up to his lip which was now bleeding, once he saw the blood he gave Wally a murderous glare.

That’s when Wally realized he had made a big mistake.

A _really_ big mistake.

Wally turned and ran as fast as his body could carry him. He didn’t get very far before Ryan got a hold on the back of Wally’s shirt and got to him. They both had a little scuffle of Wally trying to break free and Ryan trying to turn him around. Ryan looked up and seen his other friends just watching him struggle.

“What are you guys doing just watching?! Grab the lil son of a bitch!

Wally was pulled up by his arms and held still so Ryan can get a few good shots in.

And he did.

He didn’t have the chance to do much after that before someone intervened.

“Hey, hey! Leave him alone!!”

Everyone looked over to see one of the girls that attends Wally’s school run over all mad like. Ryan decided to wrap this up with one last threat before him and his buddies dropped Wally and ran off.

Wally looked up at an extended hand. “Are you okay?”

Wally took her hand and with a groan, he was helped to his feet. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for… you know, stepping in, that was um- that was really brave of you.”

She laughed a little before replying “You’re welcome, and as much as it was stupid, that was really brave of _you_ to punch him in the face like that.”

Wally winced at the thought that people around him seen his royal screw up. “Oh, you saw that part? In hindsight probably shouldn’t have done that. Did it look cool at least?”

“Yeah, it was pretty cool. Umm, your name is- Wallace right?”

“Oh yeah, It is but you can call me Wally if you want.”

The girl said Wally once to herself as if she was making a mental note of it then said: “Okay Wally, your papers are kinda blowing all over the place.”

Wally turned his head around to see his stuff all over the place then kneeled over by his backpack and started picking stuff up and shoving it in his bag. The girl bent down and picked up a notebook by her feet and walked over to give it to Wally who was putting the last stray pieces of paper in his bag.

“Do you want me to walk you to the office? I’m sure one of the teachers in there can fix you up a little bit.”

Wally stood up and put his backpack on while thinking about it. “Um...sure.”

The two started walking back towards the school building and before Wally could even make it fully in the office the secretary was already assessing his injuries.

“Good heavens what happened to you?!”

Wally was about to respond with the full story but was interrupted by the girl next to him.

“Wally was minding his own business when Ryan Thompson and his buddies ganged up on him!”

He didn't miss the fact that she conveniently left out the part that he threw the first punch. “Um...yeah! And they stole my iPod!”

The secretary wrote this down then went and got Wally a plastic ziplock bag with ice. When she came back she handed it to him and he pressed it to his cheek. “Just keep holding that there Wallace, I’m going to go call your parents and see if one of them can come get you.”

Wally immediately took the ice off his face “Please don’t call them!”

The secretary looked at Wally like he had just bit her or something so he tried to backtrack feeling bad about that little outburst. “Um, they can’t cause they aren’t home right now. That’s why I walk home every day.”

She just replied with “I can’t in good conscious let you walk home after you’ve been heavily injured. Is there someone else I can call?”

Wally fidgeted trying to come up with an answer that will satisfy her. “Well...I guess...you can call my aunt but I haven’t talked to her in a long time.”

The secretary sat at her desk and began searching Wally’s online profile for his aunt’s number.

Wally gave a little huff and sat in one of the chairs made for visitors. The girl that broke up the fight earlier was still with him and she sat next to him.

“So, what was up with you not wanting your parents being called, can’t they just leave work or something?”

Wally slouched real low in the chair and gave his reply “Well, you see, if they found out I got in a fight, or that my iPod was stolen or just the fact that they would have to leave work, I’d be dead meat so it’s better off if they just didn’t know.”

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense.”

The two talked for a while before the girl took out her phone and checked it.

“Oh, my mom is here to pick me up. I got to go but I hope you feel better Wally.” She got up and started to walk towards the door.

“Later- uh wait, hang on! I just realized you never told me your name.”

The girl turned around and gave him a warm smile and just said “It’s Linda.” then walked out the door.

Wally smiled to himself for a little while after she left because wow she’s so nice? He was soon shaken from his thoughts when the secretary came back and said that he had someone on the way to come pick him up.

He knew that he was going to be a while. Central City is an hour away and to Wally that was a _long_ time to be just sitting in the office doing nothing. But never the less he waited.

And waited…

And waited…

Around 45 minutes went by and he decided to go wait outside so he can just get in the car without Aunt Iris having to come in and get him. He did more waiting until finally when he was beginning to doubt anyone was coming for him he spotted Aunt Iris’ car pull into the school's parking lot. Wally began to walk over to the car when he noticed it wasn’t Aunt Iris in the driver's seat...

It was _Uncle Barry._

This day couldn’t get any worse, could it? Wally walked over to the passenger door, opened it and glanced in the back seat hoping for some reason Aunt Iris would be there. “Hi, Uncle Barry.”

Barry smiled and in a kind, reassuring way he softly said “Hey Wal, are you feeling okay?” The cop side of Barry was looking at this kid and assessing what he was dealing with. His red hair was messy, his cheek was bruised a bit and had blood on his lip that was almost wiped away but not quite. Barry watched Wally open the door and scan the car then softly greet him so it seems like not only that but he also looked really distant and disconnected from what was happening. Barry guessed that maybe because of the fight he was in, he had a mild concussion or something. On the other hand, the parental side in Barry wanted to hug the kid and never let him go. He'd gotten so big! It was so nice to see him again even if it was under such sucky circumstances

Wally sat in the passenger seat and put his seat belt on then faced forward not even looking at his Uncle. “I feel fine.”

Barry made a sorta sideways pout with his lips “That didn’t sound very convincing.”

Wally looked down at this hands in his lap. “Yeah? Well, neither are you pretending to be concerned so just... just take me home already.”

That comment made Barry speechless he had no idea what to say. “I _am_ concerned Wally! Look at you, how could I not be. I know I haven’t seen you in a long time but I really do care about you...I- I’m not sure what I did to make you say something like that.”

Barry got no further response from Wally as he was just leaning on the door looking out the window, just waiting to be taken home. A few moments passed before Barry sighed and started to car up. He pulled out of the school parking lot and continued down the road.

Wally just shut his eyes while waiting to arrive at his house. It was like a 30-minute walk so it probably wouldn’t take too long to drive there. Barry did not say anything for the rest of the car ride so Wally unintentionally dozed off for a bit before the car came to a halt. Wally opened his eyes expecting to see his dreary yard but was greeted with something else.

The boy sat up and fully looked at his surroundings. Barry took the key out and Wally looked over at him. “Uncle Barry where are we?”

“We are at the best ice cream parlor in Keystone because it looks like you need a little pick-me-up.”

Wally looked at him like he still didn't get why he didn’t just drop him off at his house like he was supposed to. “Wait but, I thought that you were supposed to take me home?”

“Oh I will but we’re just taking a little detour first, I’m sure it’ll be okay. Come on!”

Barry got out of the car, so Wally did too and followed him in. The place was not very packed at all so they didn’t have to wait in line. In fact, there were only one other group of people there and it was an elderly couple sitting at one of the tables.

One of the employes happily greeted them “Hello what can I get for you two today?”

Barry looked down at Wally “What do you want Wals? You can get whatever you want.”

“Umm…” Wally looked through the glass at all the tubs of ice cream and walked down the length of it to get an idea of all their flavors. “Can I get…a scoop of mint chip aaaaaaaaaaand...that oreo one right there?” Wally tapped on the glass like that would help the lady figure out which one he was talking about. The girl began scooping the two flavors into a paper cup and then handed it to Wally. She turned to Barry “Is there anything else I can get you?”

He reached into his back pocket and grabbed his wallet while saying “Uh yeah, can I get a triple scoop of-” Barry kinda leaned to the right of him and examined the piece of paper on the window telling you the flavors. “-the chocolate chip cookie dough please?”

Barry took out the money while the girl behind the counter scooped out his order. He turned to Wally who was just watching and told him to go find a place to sit. Barry handed the girl the money and she handed him the change. Before making his way over to where Wally was sitting he grabbed his cup and two plastic spoons.

Wally was sitting little ways away in a booth with his hands tucked in his lap staring at his ice cream.

“Here you go bud.” Barry handed Wally a spoon and sat down across from him. He started eating it while Wally kinda poked it with his spoon.

“W-why are you doing this for me?”

Barry kinda just rose his eyebrows with a mouth full of cookie dough ice cream “Doing what?”

“I dunno you’re just...being so nice like you came all this way just to pick me up from school and then- and then you get me ice cream. Why would you do that?”

“Because I really missed you Wally, as soon as Aunt Iris told me that you got in a fight and needed to be picked up I drove over here as fast as I could because I needed to make sure you were okay. That’s what family is supposed to do for each other. Be there when you need them the most...” He trailed off when Wally’s face changed from a neutral expression to one that looked like he was about to cry. The sudden change made Barry stop talking for a second. In that pause that’s where Wally tried to form a response.

In a shaky, sad voice the only thing he was able to get out was an “I...really missed you too.” then he started crying.

“Hey, hey it’s okay! What’s the matter?” Barry slid out of his side of the booth and sat across from where he was sitting next to Wally.

Wally wiped away some of the tears he had on his cheeks and tried to pull himself together. “I just forgot how much I liked being with you Uncle Barry.”

Barry gave an apathetic smile and wiped Wally’s cheek with his finger. “So are those tears of joy? You had me really worried I did something wrong in the car.”

A little sniffle was heard before Wally replied “I just thought...I thought that you were still upset with me.”

“What? When was I ever upset with you?” Ever since Wally got in the car he definitely seemed a lot different. Aside from how much bigger he is and such, he just didn’t seem like the Wally he knew. The Wally he was used to was a ray of sunshine. However the Wally he was currently speaking with seemed like he was harboring so many negative emotions. The confusing part was a lot of them seemed to be directed at Barry. The last time he checked he and Wally were on great terms and he can’t think of a time where he was ever upset with the kid.

“When I was younger ‘cause I used to be dumb and annoying. Dad says you don’t like that, and that’s why you stopped coming over. I was afraid that you still thought of me that way.” Wally kept his eyes on his ice cream not wanting to look at his uncle.

“Wally, are you kidding? First of all your father is completely wrong I never once thought that even for a second in my entire life.”

Wally finally looked up at Barry “Really?”

“Yes really, and second of all you are so smart and all the energy you have makes me so happy. The only thing that made me upset was not getting to see you for _so_ long.” Barry reached across the table and grabbed his ice cream cup to take a bite. Wally was already noticeably happier with the whole situation. However, Barry wasn't happy with this discovery at all. Did Rudy say that on purpose? He had no idea where Rudy came to that conclusion that just sounded insane to him. I was especially weird because Rudy had told Barry something similar except for the fact that Wally apparently had said it. Wonder what other things he had told them that wasn't the truth. 

“Does that mean you’re going to be around more?”

Barry stirred his cup around while he talked, as it was already starting to melt. “If you want me to I’m sure something can be arranged.” He glanced down at Wally’s shirt for the first time that afternoon and read it. Looked like it was a shirt he got from being in a _“Science Bowl”_? Whatever that is must be some kind of club at his school.

“Do you still like science? I remember you used to go on and on about the new earth science book you got for that week when you came over to my house” Both of them were smiling now.

“Yeah, I really do. I used to be in this really fun club at my school called the Science Bowl, and teams from different schools would compete on who knew the most about any and all science related topics. It was pretty hard but we got 2nd place and I got this neat T-shirt for participating.” Wally grabbed the bottom of his shirt and flattened it out so Barry could look at it.

“Okay because looking at your shirt, I was thinking that maybe this weekend if you and your parents are okay with it I could take you to see my lab down at CCPD. Since you like science and all it would be something to do. Just the two of us.”

Wally was a little confused at that. “You have a lab? I thought you were a police officer though?”

Barry shook his head as he swallowed more ice cream. “Oh no no, I work at the Central City Police Department but I mostly just work in the crime lab examining evidence and such. So I’m not really a police officer per say.”

“That still sounds really cool though! I would really like to see it.”

The two sat and talked for quite a while. Wally finally started eating his ice cream while he filled Barry in on everything he missed in the couple of years they hadn't seen each other.

When It came to the time to leave they both got into the car and the atmosphere was a lot less tense than it was the first time they were in the car together. Barry pulled up to the front of Wally’s house.

“Here Wally,” Barry pulled out a pocket notebook and a spare pen from his glove department then started writing on it. “I want you to call me if you ever need anything okay?” He ripped the paper off and handed it to Wally who was still sitting in the passenger seat.

“Thanks, Uncle Barry. I will do that.” Wally was quiet for a second then reached over the center console and gave Barry a hug before getting out of the car. He stood there with the door open then said: “I’m really sorry for the way I acted.”

“Wally you don’t have to apologize for anything, you did nothing wrong. I think a few things somehow got miscommunicated somewhere along the way. I wish it didn’t take such a long time to clear things up, but I’m glad we did.”

Wally gave a little smile “I’m glad too.”

The two exchanged farewells, eventually, Wally shut the door and Barry drove away. Wally turned around to go up to the front door and noticed both cars were in the driveway already.

Oh god oh god oh god, how is he going to explain to his parents why he’s 3 hours late coming home?? Oh sorry, I was out late having ice cream with Uncle Barry! Why? Cause I got in a fist fight and they kinda stole my IPod too. Nono that isn’t going to do. He was going to have to come up with something fast.

Wally opened the front door and crept in. He heard his parents arguing in the kitchen and stopped in his tracks.

“Did you call the school or not?!”

“I did Rudy! It’s already 6 o’clock the office is closed!”

“You know what I’m just gonna drive around, see if I can find him.” Wally hears the jingle of keys being picked up and footsteps of someone exiting the kitchen. “He better hope I don’t cause if I do I-” Rudy came around the corner and seen Wally standing in the doorway.

“Where the fuck have you been boy?!” Rudy looked a lot angrier than he sounded in the kitchen and this had Wally frozen up.

“I-I I was at school for a little while.” That technically wasn’t a lie he was at school for a _long_ time waiting for Uncle Barry and getting checked out by the secretary. You know maybe lying will get him in even more trouble. Since his dad is angry anyways might as well just get it all out now.

“And then Uncle Barry picked me up and we got some ice cream…”

Rudy’s face twisted up in confusion. “Barry? What the hell was he doing picking you up from school?”

“Well I kinda sort of...got into a fight after school and had to be picked up, but nobody was home to do it so the school had to call him.”

“You got into a fucking fight? What the hell is wrong with you? Can you not even follow the simplest of directions? You walk home _right_ after school and do your homework. Now It’s nearly seven and you’ve done nothing but piss me off!”

This is when Mary decided to intervene before things got out of hand. “Rudy let's take a step back and calm down a sec okay?” She gave a gentle tug on Rudy’s arm but he pushed her away.

“Like hell I am this kid thinks he can just do whatever he wants without telling anybody?? That’s not how things work around here!”

Wally attempted to prove his case a little more “No that's not what I thought at all I just-”

“No this is where you shut the fuck up, you know what actually if you want to stay out of the house for hours without telling us-” Rudy grabbed Wally’s upper arm and started walking him down the hallway towards his room. “You can stay in your room for hours for all I care!”

Wally tried to wiggle and squirm out of his dad's harsh grip getting more upset and panicked by the second. “Ow ow ow! Come on Dad I’m really sorry!! I promise from now on I’ll be super good!!” Wally was pushed into his room and fell on the floor, flat on his stomach. As per the usual, the door was slammed and luckily his dad was on the other side. He was safe for now, that wasn’t as bad as Wally thought it was going to be.

He rolled over to his side and kinda just laid there for a few moments before pulling out the crumpled piece of paper that had Uncle Barry’s number on it from his pocket.

Wally sat up and crawled over to his bed. Underneath it, he pulled out a shoebox and opened it. Inside there were multiple things, his flash ring, the ziplock bag with all the newspaper articles in it, that picture of him and the Flash on his birthday a few years back and a few other miscellaneous things. He gave Uncle Barry’s phone number one last look before putting it into the box and closing it.


	6. One step closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This takes place almost immediately after chapter 5. Wally comes out of his room to ask about seeing his Uncle this weekend but ends up doing something different. A lot different

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for yelling, cursing, violence and smoking

Wally pressed his ear up against his door to try and hear what was going on out in the rest of the house.

Nothing.

No voices. No noises. That was a good sign and it usually meant it was an okay time to come out of his room. He needed to talk to his mom about seeing Uncle Barry this weekend. Hopefully, his dad isn’t around her at the moment because he would not let him go. Not after the whole fistfight thing.

The wood creaked as Wally slowly made his way out of his room and down the hall. He peeked around the corner and looked into the living room to see his dad sitting out there. He quickly turned back around to retreat back to his room in hopes that he hadn’t been spotted. Before he could make it back he heard his name called.

He’d been caught.

Wally made his way back through the hallway and stopped at the entrance where his father could see him. “Yes?”

“What are you doing?”

Wally chewed on his cheek before he responded. “I um, well, I was looking for mom.”

“What do you need her for?”

Gosh, this is exactly what he was trying to avoid, he should have stayed in his room. Wally made an effort to avoid the situation by dismissing himself. “Um nothing, it’s fine.” He turned to go to his room but Rudy called him back like that wasn’t a good enough answer. “Get back here, what do you want?”

Wally came back and tried to word this carefully. “Well...I was...hoping if, maybe I could do something this weekend and I was wondering if Mom could help me...make it happen.”

Rudy was starting to get frustrated at how vague Wally is being. “Come on Wallace! Spit it out. She doesn’t give you permission to do things. I do.”

Oh, here he goes. Wally was getting a little scared but he continued to plead his case. “Right, right, um...okay so Uncle Barry asked me if I wan-”

“No, definitely not. You’re not getting back into hanging out with Barry every weekend. Even if you’ve been good, which you haven't, so don’t even think about finishing that sentence.”

“What Dad, no, it’s only for one day I just-”

Rudy was getting a little more than frustrated now. “I said no Wally! You don’t need to be around him. After all these years I got him to stay away from you, you went behind my back and saw him. That won't happen again, do you understand!?”

Wally was quiet for a long moment "Got him to stay away from me?"

Rudy realized his mistake and tried to backpedal a little bit "Now Wally don't-" But Wally wasn't having any of it, with a scowl on his face he just said: “You’re a liar-now it all makes sense.”

Rudy sat up in his chair like he was about to get up and go over to where Wally was but he sat still. “What did you just say?”

“I said you are a liar.” Now Wally was starting to get mad. He wasn’t going to let his dad take him away from Uncle Barry a second time. “All those years you told me Uncle Barry hated me but...but he doesn’t! He said so himself! I think you lie to me be-because...because I like Uncle Barry more than I like you, and you know it!”

Wally was getting braver by the second. He just kept talking, that’s when Rudy got up and made his way over to Wally but he stood his ground and continued.

“Uncle Barry never-” Wally was cut off by a harsh slap across the face. The force made him fall to the floor.

“I’m not a liar, I’m you’re father. Barry isn’t. Does he provide a roof over your head? Food? Clothes? Barry doesn’t take care of you, I do.” Rudy grabbed Wally’s shirt and pulled him off the floor. “You need to learn how to appreciate wh-”

Mary came in from the backyard when she heard the commotion. “Rudy! What is going on in here! Let him go!” Rudy threw Wally back to the floor and turned his attention towards Mary.

“This kid thinks he can do whatever he wants! And It’s your fault he’s turning out this way! Whenever I try and put him straight, you baby him and teach him he can get away with things without consequence!”

Wally saw his chance to escape the situation when Rudy’s eyes weren’t on him. Crawling to his feet Wally ran to his room. He had to hide. There was no way he was going to escape this without some sort of beating. Usually, he gets bad ones for things he doesn’t deem very important. But lashing out and yelling at his dad? God, he was basically asking for it.

He frantically scanned his room for a hiding place but his dad knows all of them. That’s when Wally made a heat of the moment decision. He grabbed his school bag and dumped it all out on the floor and as fast as he could he put in a few pairs of clothes. Wally then scrambled to the side of his bed and took the box underneath it and shoved the whole thing in the bag too. Once he was done he stood up and thought of every way he might be able to get out of this room. He could run past his mom and dad and make it to the front door but they were by the hallway entrance he might not be able to get past. That plan was scratched when he heard someone coming towards his room.

Someone mad.

He turned around and frantically opened his blinds to get to the window latch. The window made a high pitched noise as he opened it and pushed out the screen.

“What the hell are you doing!?” Rudy had opened his son's door but wasn’t expecting him to be crawling out the window. Rudy lurched forward to try and grab Wally before he made his escape. However, he was just a little too slow.

Wally landed very ungracefully on the ground with a thud and didn’t turn around to see if his dad was going to follow him through or go around. He ran as fast as he could to the back gate that led to the side of the house. From there he ran through the front yard and down the sidewalk. He didn’t stop running until he was a good number of blocks away from the house.

When Wally slowed down and started walking instead of running he noticed something that should have been really obvious from the moment he moment he opened his blinds.

It was night time.

Oh jeez. The aspect of being out here at like 8 o’clock at night seemed a lot less scary when he was about to get the beating of a lifetime. Still, it’s better than being at home at this moment so he continued on.

Wally also noticed that he unconsciously ran the same route he takes when he walks to school every day. That would be a good place to sit out for a while. Surely no creeps or weirdos hang out on a school campus at night, right?

After a while of walking, Wally finally made it to his school only to find that all the fences were closed and locked. Wally gave an exasperated sigh and slid to the ground. He leaned his forehead on the chainlink fence and sat there for a moment wondering what on Earth he was doing. He doesn’t have any money, or place to go, or food even. Just the thought of needing food made him painfully aware that he hasn’t eaten anything today besides school lunch and a cup of ice cream from when Uncle Barry took him out.

Uncle Barry! Maybe he could come pick him up and take him to his house. But it is awfully late and him and Aunt Iris are probably sound asleep. Plus to top it off Wally didn’t have a cell phone to call anyone with. Maybe he should just face the facts and head back home.

No that is just simply not an option. Wally got up and continued walking down the street in hopes he could find someone who had a cell phone. He was walking for quite a while and didn't find anybody he could potentially talk to.

There weren’t very many cars out at night in Keystone. Most of the people who were out were on their way home, running some late night errands, or just passing through. The only people Wally came across that weren't in cars was a group of guys smoking on the side of a building. These people really looked like your run of the mill junkies but Wally couldn’t really tell. All he saw was a group of people that might be able to help him.

“Um...e-excuse me?”

The group turned to Wally not expecting to be confronted by a little kid, especially not one after dark.

One of them answered him. “Whaddya want kid? You lost or somethin’?”

Wally fidgeted, maybe he made a mistake in confronting this group of people. “I was, I was wondering if maybe any of you had a cell phone I could borrow for a minute?”

A different voice responds to Wally this time “Aw looks like the lost puppy wants to call his mommy to come pick him up.” A few voices laughed. “You all alone?”

Wally was kinda speechless, he wasn’t supposed to tell strangers that he was all alone. In Fact, he wasn’t supposed to talk to strangers at all. This whole conversation was getting a little weird and Wally had only been talking to them for about what 30 seconds? Maybe Wally really should go back home. “I-I'm not...um...sorry to bother you.”

Wally started to walk away however one of the junkies called him back over. “Hey hey, kid, you wanna borrow a phone or not? We’re just messin’ with ya.”

Turning back towards the group Wally nodded and made his way back over there. The man offering the phone held it out and Wally reached to grab it before retracting his hand back and kneeling down to dig through his backpack. “Oh wait, I need to get his number out.”

The voice from earlier spoke up again “Come on we don’t have all night.”

Wally pulled the folded piece of paper with Barry’s number on it out and stood back up again. “Right right, sorry. Thank you for helping me.” Wally took the phone from the man offering it. The phone already had the dialer up and all Wally had to do was type the number in but for some reason Wally froze up.

“What's your problem, you gonna use the phone or are we just gonna watch you stand there all night.”

Ignoring the comment Wally took a breath and typed the number. With a shaky hand, Wally pressed the call button and put it up on the side of his face.

It rang for what felt like an eternity when it finally went to Barry’s voice mail. Wally brought the phone down and ended the call. “He, uh he didn’t answer can I call again?”

“Alright, you have about 30 seconds to call again make this quick.”

Wally didn’t waste any time to call again and put the phone back up to his cheek. It rang about once before someone answered. “Barry Allen speaking.” He sounded like he was really tired but still made an attempt at a positive, professional greeting.

“Hi, Uncle Barry…”

“Wally?”

“Yeah It’s me, I was wondering if you could pick me up a-and take me to your house?” Wally looked over at the group of people just watching him on the phone and felt really vulnerable. The one who said he had 30 seconds had five fingers up. Then four. Then three. Oh jeez! Wally put his attention back on the phone call where Barry was freaking out a little bit.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?”

“Nono Uncle Barry I’m fine I just-” Wally stopped talking when the man who was counting interrupted him. “Times up kid, give me my phone back, you’re wasting all my minutes.”

“Wally? Who are you with? Where are you?”

“Uhm listen, Uncle Barry, I’m somewhere around my school okay? I-” A yelp came from Wally as he was tugged towards the group and against the side of the building they were next to.

“I said times up, give me my phone! I don’t have the money to pay for minutes that some kid wasted.”

“Okay! Okay!! Here!” Wally quickly handed the phone over in an effort to cease any more unneeded frustration. The older man hung up on Barry and shoved the phone back in his pocket. Then gave wally a gentle push away from the group.

“Alright now get outta here.”

Wally didn’t say anything more and didn’t look back he just quickly walked back in the direction of his school.

* * *

 

The ticking and tapping of Iris typing on her laptop were heard along with the sound of the T.V playing.

Iris was sitting on the couch in their living room and Barry was leaning on her watching whatever this was on T.V he wasn’t really paying attention to that. After he got home from his outing with Wally he had to come back and wrap up in the lab and do a few things as the Flash. He didn’t realize how tired he was until he sat on the couch next to Iris finally. Barry is usually really good about not letting fatigue or a general sleepiness affect him. On the other hand sometimes when he has the option to just sit and not do anything he really can be the biggest sloth you have ever seen.

Which is why it was so unfortunate that Iris told him his phone was ringing at that moment. His phone that was in their bedroom, not a comfortable arm distance away. “Honey your phone's been ringing.”

Barry gave a little groan and nuzzled his face into Iris’ shoulder “Can you get it for me?”

“Barry.”

The speedster laughed a little at Iris’ tone “I’m kidding, I'm kidding.” He sped into the bedroom, then back onto the couch with his phone.

Barry looked at the number for a second before it stopped ringing. Hm, he didn’t recognize it one bit.

Iris looked over “Who was it?”

“Not sure.” Barry was about to call them back when the caller called him again. He cleared the sleep from his voice and answered the phone.

“Barry Allen speaking.”

“Hi, Uncle Barry…” Barry wasn’t sure who he expected to be on the other side but it sure wasn’t the small voice of his nephew.

“Wally?” When Iris heard Wally’s name she looked over at Barry just as surprised as he is. Neither of them expecting a call from their 11-year-old nephew at 9 at night.

“Yeah It’s me, I was wondering if you could pick me up a-and take me to your house?”

Okay if the sole fact that Wally was calling in the first place didn’t freak Barry out than what Wally just said really did.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt are you?”

“Nono Uncle Barry I’m fine I just-” Wally stopped talking and Barry could hear people talking in the background “Time's up kid, give me my phone back, you’re wasting all my minutes.”

That definitely didn’t sound like Rudy or Mary, or anyone Wally should be with at this hour for that matter.

“Wally? Who are you with? Where are you?”

Wally talked really fast now like he was on his last breath “Uhm listen, Uncle Barry, I’m somewhere around my school okay? I-” Wally cut himself off with a yelp type noise and then Barry heard him make an oof noise like he was shoved into something. “Wally?! Wally!”

Barry heard Wally say “Okay! Okay!! Here!” before the phone was abruptly hung up. He brought the phone down and looked over to Iris who had shut her laptop. Both of them more worried about Wally than ever.

“Bar, what is going on?!”

“I think Wally is in trouble.”

* * *

 

Wally sat on the curb by his school waiting and hoping that maybe Uncle Barry would be able to find him. Picking up little rocks and lining them up to pass the time.

He wondered if his mom and dad were looking for him or not. Wally has never run away before or even attempted. He never had anyone else to turn to. Now that he does...what happens next? Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris won't let him stay at their house forever. What happens when he has to come back home?

Wally tried to imagine his mom and dad crying, ecstatic that their son has returned home. That’s what he wishes would happen. However, he knew it wouldn’t. He would come home and his mom would cry and ask _“Where have you been?!”_ and then his dad would get mad and hit and yell like he always does when Wally does something “ _wrong”._ Then mom would talk to him after it all died down, fix him up if needed, and cry more. The whole cycle made Wally feel so helpless and stuck.

There was nothing he could do to stop his dad. There was nothing he could do to help his mom.

There was nothing he could do to help _himself_.

Except run apparently. Just like the Flash does but more so the opposite. The Flash doesn’t use his powers to run away from things. He uses them to run toward things. To protect himself and others.

Wally would give anything to be able to do that.

In a burst of frustration Wally groaned and swiped all the rocks he lined up on the sidewalk into the street. He tucked his knees up to his chin then wrapped his arms around them.

He sat like that for a few minutes before he seen a streak of light a few blocks over. Wally sat up straight, eyes wide wondering if he actually saw anything. Then the next block over there was another streak of light. Then before Wally knew it there was a flash of light right in front of him followed by a gust of wind.

“Are you alright son?”

Wally squinted his eyes for a second, then widened them again once he realized who was talking to him. “F-Flash?! Oh my gosh, I- what are- Aren’t you supposed to be in Central City?”

“Yes, that’s usually where I operate but I make exceptions when I hear about a little boy who is in danger because he’s not where _he’s_ supposed to be.”

Wally looked down at his feet in guilt and the Flash sat down on the curb next to him. “Did my Uncle tell you? I forgot you two were friends.”

“Yeah well he needed someone to get here fast and there’s nothing faster than me!” That was Barry’s lame attempt to somewhat lighten the air but it didn’t work.

“I’m sorry you had to come all the way out here just for me, I know you’re busy and all. I felt bad enough wasting Uncle Barry’s time, I didn’t mean to waste yours too.” Wally still kept his eyes on his shoes.

“Don’t say that- it’s my job to protect people. If it meant you getting help, over you sitting out here in the dark all night, then I'm glad to have gotten the call...Just- why are you out here in the first place?”

Wally still glared at his shoes, his eyebrows furrowed like he was having a war with himself. “I just...I-I can’t tell you…”

“It’s perfectly okay to feel scared, or afraid Wally, and not wanting to let anyone know if you need help or are having trouble is okay too...but I can help you a lot better if I know what is going on.”

For the first time since Flash sat down, Wally looked up at him. “No, you don’t understand…” Then a little above a whisper he said: “I _can’t_ tell you.”

Even as Wally sat there and told Flash he couldn’t say anything, his eyes seemed to tell a story all on their own. Barry has seen that look before. As a hero and police officer, he deals with a lot of people that are terrified beyond belief. Something or someone has Wally scared so bad he can’t bring himself to talk about it. Not even to someone he has put on a pedestal his entire life.

Barry solemnly nodded. “Can you tell your Uncle? Or your Aunt?”

“I can’t tell anybody...It’s supposed to be a secret.” Wally’s eyes went back to his shoes.

“Okay, it’s okay, you don’t _have_ to tell me anything you don’t want to, but if it’s important please tell someone you trust. Okay? Your parents, your aunt, a teacher, anyone you want.”

Wally just nodded in response.

There was a brief silence before Barry stood back up “Alright, let's get you to Central City.”

The boy looked up at the Flash then down at the hand he was holding out. Wally took it and the speedster helped him up.

“Wait so you’re gonna run me to Central City??”

“If you are okay with that-”

A giant smile appeared on Wally’s face. “Heck yeah, I’m okay with that!”

Flash laughed at the kids excitement. That was the Wally he remembered. Something had changed in the years he hadn’t been in contact with Wally. Barry, in the beginning, had suspicions that something wasn’t okay from the first time he met Wally and his family. That night they had dinner Barry got to see a little bit of what the family dynamic was like. Not that Barry is a huge expert on families but he knows what a good one is supposed to be like. Iris didn’t think much of it so neither did he at the time.

On the other hand, just in the span of one day, more red flags that something is wrong keep jumping out at him. Finding out that Rudy had lied to Wally for who knows how long about things Barry had said, the fact that Wally finds it so hard to believe that someone doesn’t think bad things of him _and_ the fact that he ran away from home really made him think that maybe he didn’t know this side of the West family as much as he thought he did.

Barry crouched down to let Wally climb on his back like he was about to give him a high-speed piggyback ride. “The best way to do this, I think, is a piggyback ride if you wanna climb on."

Wally wrapped his arms around the Flash’s neck and he stood up “Alrighty, hold on tight!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this was rushed but I really wanted to get a new chapter out to you guys! Barry is starting to suspect that something is really wrong and Wally is getting more and more upset with his situation. In the future chapters do you want to see more Wally and Barry/Iris interactions or more Wally and Rudy/Mary interactions? Let me know in the comments thanks for reading!


	7. A Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally spends the night at Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris' house. Barry tries to figure out whats going on with Wally. While Wally figures out a few things of his own.

Flash had taken Wally to Central and walked him up to his aunt's door. He waited until Wally was done raving about how cool it was to be taken somewhere an hour away in the span of a few seconds. When he calmed down Flash told him to be careful and not to be out so late on his own from now on. Wally said he wouldn’t and he promised he would be very careful. Flash didn’t stick around to see Wally knock on the door because after they had their short conversation he sped off.

Little did Wally know that the Flash didn’t go very far. He went around the block and circled back to the house before Wally even touched the door. Barry went into the house through the backyard and stopped in the dining room. Iris, who was pacing in the kitchen, let out a sigh of relief and ran over to him.

“Oh thank god you’re-” Iris looked Barry up and down and did not spot her nephew anywhere.  “Wait where’s Wally? Did you-”

Barry cut Iris off and spoke, but a little bit faster than he should have. “Yes, he’s at the door. He should be coming in any second. I’m going to go take my suit off, be right back.” And with that Barry sped into their bedroom and left Iris alone in the dining room. A few seconds later there was a knock on the door and Iris rushed to open it.

As soon as it opened Wally was greeted with a very worried Iris. “Wally! There you are! Are you okay??” Iris led Wally in then kneeled down and caressed Wally's cheeks, frantically petting his bangs back examining his face like a very concerned stressed out mother would.

“Aunt Iris I- I’m fine! You don’t have to- I’m fine.” Wally was trying to evade his aunt's endearing gestures. They were too sudden and a little too much for Wally's liking.

“No, you are not fine! You have bruises and cuts all over your face and your clothes are all dirty and sweaty. Is this from that fight?”

He nodded. “Yeah, but it’s fine, I’ve been in worse fights than that one.” Wally gave little-lopsided smile as if that would help his aunt’s worries go away but she just gave a big sigh.

“Oh, honey...one more surprise like these Wally and I’m gonna have a heart attack! I can’t stand to see you like this.”

Wally turned his gaze back down to his shoes feeling guilty. That's really something he’s been doing a lot lately. “Sorry Aunt Iris, I didn’t mean to freak you guys out.”

“No no, Wally, you don’t have to apologize, nothing is your fault. I just...I would really like to know what is going on with you. Why did you call us to come pick you up”

Iris got no response for a few moments so she tried a different approach.

“Okay, Wally...what is it that  _I_  can do for _you_?”

Wally looked back up not sure what to say. “Umm...well...I’m kinda hungry.”

Nice way to change the direction of this conversation.

Iris was a little surprised that that's all he had to say. The kid looked like a train wreck and the only problem he could think up was he was a little hungry? Well, at least that's a start.

“You're just hungry? Well, food it is then Wal.” Iris got up from her crouching position and turned towards the kitchen. “We got a lot of stuff in the kitchen I can make for you.”

Wally followed Iris to go into the kitchen when Barry came out from the hall and stopped them halfway. In a real sympathetic kinda voice Barry said: “Hey buddy! What's going on?”

Barry said the last part of his sentence more to Iris than Wally, and she responded with “Oh um, Wally said he was hungry so I was just gonna make him something to eat.”

“Okay! Uh, Wally would you maybe want to watch a movie or something on the couch while Iris and I make you something?”

“Uhhmm sure.” Wally honestly didn't care what he was doing. As long as he was here he was content. Besides it didn’t really look like he had much of a choice anyway Barry was already making his way to the living room and opening the drawer underneath the T.V stand. That's where all the movies were kept. Wally made his way over there too to look at their selection.

“Bar I’m gonna get started on something in the kitchen okay?”

“Yeah sure,” Barry brought his attention back towards the movies. He opened the drawer next to that one to reveal another row of movie boxes. Both of them were sitting down on the floor examining the wide array of titles now. “You can pick any of these, some of these are kind of old though, but I’m sure we have something you would like.”

This was something Barry learned in his type of work. When you want to distract a kid and not have them worry or ask questions or eavesdrop on serious conversations you have to keep them occupied. He had to talk with Iris.

Wally was looking at row by row “Wow, you guys have tons of movies!”

“Yeah, my uh friend didn’t have anywhere to keep his collection of movies, so he let me have them.”

“Oh that’s nice of him...is he a cop like you?” Wally was still looking at all the movies.

Umm, yeah... a space cop.

“Uh, no, not really...He’s a test pilot, he flies planes and such.”

Wally finally looked up from the movies, “Really? That is so cool! Has he ever taken you on a plane ride?”

Barry gave a little sheepish laugh “Ahh I don’t know about that. I like to keep my feet on the ground most of the time.”

Not to mention that Hal would probably fly crazy just to mess with him. Not that Barry doesn't trust Hal cause he does, with his life even. But leave it to Hal to skyrocket your anxieties just for a little fun.

Wally put his attention back on the movies “Oh...I’ve never been on a plane before, but I know that if I was friends with somebody who flies planes, we would go on rides all the time. That sounds so cool...How about this?”

Wally held up a movie to show Barry. “Hmm, Jurassic Park huh? That’s a good pick.” Barry took it from the boy and started to put it on. Wally went and sat on the couch while he waited.

Iris came into the living room from the kitchen. “Alrighty I got a frozen pizza in the oven it should be done in 20 minutes or so.” Iris looked down at Wally who was sitting on the couch. Wally do you have any pajamas in that bag?” Iris pointed to Wally's backpack that he was still wearing. He was also wearing a pair of dirty jeans and his science bowl shirt that was all sweaty and gross.

“Um yes.”

“Alright, why don’t you go put those on in the bathroom while Barry gets this movie on okay?”

“Okay.” Wally got up from the couch and made his way to the bathroom to change. Once he was down the hall and out of sight Iris said a little above a whisper. “Please tell me he told you something?...Anything?”

Barry gave a little sigh. “He says whatever the reason was he was out there all by himself is a secret and he can’t tell anybody.”

“That’s it nothing else?” Iris really wanted to know what was going on with her nephew. And so did Barry but forcing a kid to tell something that they aren’t willing or ready to talk about wasn’t a good thing for either side. Wally would come out when he was ready, but Barry was afraid that by the time he was ready to talk it would be too late. Barry had no idea what was going on but it wasn’t hard to give an educated guess. He just wasn’t sure how to bring up his thoughts to Iris. Oh, honey by the way I think your brother and his wife are abusing your nephew in some way. That’s pretty much what it chalked up to. Barry’s seen this kinda stuff almost all his life. In foster group homes, his job as the Flash and even in his day job. He had to put this out delicately though.

“Well...I think Wally is just living in an unstable environment and he...doesn't know how to handle it, so I think he just tried to run away from it.”

Iris looked a little shocked. “What do you mean  _ unstable _  environment?”

“I think that maybe his household isn't the  _ healthiest  _ place to be-” Iris made another face trying to process this. “Look I know what you’re thinking, I just, there’s just too many pieces to ignore. You should have seen his face Iris, when we were out there he was  _ terrified _ . Of what? I don’t know, but I see this stuff every day in both of my jobs, I see kids that are terrified of what is next. When I was talking to him today he found it so hard to believe I didn’t think bad things about him. He told me- He told me that Rudy has been telling him that I hate him.”

Barry stopped for a moment to let Iris process everything he had said thus far. “...That’s terrible...I would have never- Okay so if you’re saying what I think you’re saying...What kind of things do you think are happening to him?

“I don’t know yet...But kids don’t run away from home just for fun, I think something is really wrong. I’ve been thinking about all of Wally’s behavior while I was driving home and now this? It really fits with a kid who is dealing with a bad home life. I can’t believe I didn’t think about it sooner.”

“How are we supposed to know for sure? I’m not doubting you, Barry, I know you’re very observant when it comes to these kinds of things, but how are we supposed to prove it? Like don’t we need evidence for this kind of thing?”

Yeah, they did if they wanted to do something about it, but Barry wasn’t going to let that stop him. He was going to get to the bottom of whatever was going on as fast as possible. This was a lot different than the cases he goes over at work because this was  _ his  _ family, not some case family. He had to be really careful because he didn’t want to overstep any boundaries with Wally and he didn’t want to intrude the West household if there ended up being a misunderstanding and there really wasn’t any abuse going on. He highly doubted that was the case though. He has seen this kind of thing way too much not to recognize it when he sees it. But then again what took him so long? He spent plenty of time with Wally when he was younger. I mean he had his suspicions but they were waved off. Now he’s only been with Wally one day and all this stuff is jumping out at him.

The only thing left to do now is figuring out  _ how _  he is going to get the evidence, and if he should report something. He can figure that out tomorrow though right now he had to focus on Wally. Speaking of, Barry heard the faint creak of the bathroom door being opened and shut again. Wally must be coming out of the bathroom. Barry finished turning the movie on and Wally came back to the couch. He had on a pair of dark green P.E shorts that looked to be from school and a plain black t-shirt. Barry let Wally and Iris sit on the couch and watch the movie for a moment while he checked on the food in the oven. He only suggested a movie in the first place so he and Iris could talk in the kitchen in private, but he already told her what he really needed to say so they can finish talking later.

When the pizza was done and Wally was fed Barry pulled out some spare blankets from their hall closet and set them up on the couch. It was reaching 11 o'clock and Wally was getting visibly tired. Iris was in a different room on the phone apparently Mary had called. Barry layed out two blankets and Wally crawled underneath.

“You all comfy?”

Wally tossed and turned a bit trying to get situated before replying with a little “ _ Yup!” _

“Alright, well I’ll see you in the morning okay?

“Mmkay.”

“Night, Wally.”

Barry started to leave the living room but stopped when Wally softly called after him.

“Hey, Uncle Barry?”

Barry turned back around. “Yes?”

Wally changed his position from laying on his back to sitting up on one of his elbows so he can properly address his uncle.

“Um, I just wanted to say thanks...for um, everything an all. I don’t know where I’d be if it weren’t for you and Aunt Iris. And... I’m still really sorry you’ve had to go out of your way all day for me. With school and the ice cream and  _ now,  _ I just… I know it’s a lot to ask for and...thank you.

Wally ended his little gratitude speech almost as quickly as he had started it. He wasn’t sure exactly what to say. It’s not everyday people go out of their way to do something nice for him. So it’s more or less a newish experience and he doesn't really know how to feel about it. He feels really happy and thankful, obviously, why wouldn’t he? But at the same time, he can’t help but feel guilty too. Wally’s never quite sure where the line is between asking for too much and asking for too little.

To Barry though, he wasn’t asking for enough. It broke his heart that Wally was even in this situation in the first place. Having to stay at their house because he had nowhere else to go.  _ Running away from home  _ because of some reason he believes is supposed to be a secret. Barry wanted to do more for his nephew but he wasn’t 100% sure  _ what  _ exactly.

Barry sat on top of the coffee table in front of the couch Wally was laying on. “You’re very welcome Wally, but don't even worry about it, you’re not asking for much at all. Me and your aunt really just want to see you safe and happy. So going just a little out of our way to make sure that happens is  _ not  _ a big deal in the slightest.”

Wally was quiet for a moment before he let out a big yawn. In the middle of his yawn, he started talking again. “What’s gonna happen to me tomorrow? Will I have to go back home?”

“We’ll talk about that in the morning okay? That’s not something you need to worry about right now.” Barry got up from the coffee table and pulled the blanket that was down by Wally’s waist up to his shoulders. “Let’s get some shut-eye, alright kiddo?”

“Alright, goodnight Uncle Barry."

* * *

Later that night Wally was standing in the doorway of Barry and Iris’ room. He had a bad dream out on the couch and couldn’t fall back asleep. However, he didn't exactly have the courage to wake up either of the two that were sound asleep in front of him. So instead he decided to lie down on the carpet at the foot of their bed. He does this a lot at his house so the aspect of sleeping on the floor didn’t bother him. In fact, he opposed to it just as much as sleeping in a regular bed.

He laid there for awhile trying to drift back to sleep but it wasn’t as easy as he wanted it to be. He rolled over, stretched his arms forward trying to get comfortable when he accidentally touched something underneath the bed. The boy opened his eyes and squinted them to try and make out what he touched in the dark. Unable to really see it and curiosity getting the best of him he reached forward to grab the object. He pulled it out to reveal a small stack of used journals. He took the one on top and looked at it. It was a brown leather journal and it was sorta on the small side.

Wally undid the leather clasp that kept it closed and flipped through it. It had tons of writing and equations in it and tons of different colors of pen. He stopped at the page with the equations and was trying to make a little sense of them. Then flipped to the next page where there was more writing than numbers. He looked at the small, rushed but still nice handwriting and figured it must be on of Uncle Barry’s journals. Plus all the science equations was a big give away too. He skimmed through a few more pages just looking not really reading anything.

A little time passed when he heard someone getting out of bed. Out of habit, not really meaning to keep it there, shoved the journal in the pocket of his shorts and pretended to sleep. That didn’t last long when the person who was getting out of bed tripped over Wally’s feet. They didn’t fall to the ground though they balanced themselves and Wally gave a little “Ow” from being stepped on. Wally sat up, apparently, it was Uncle Barry that he accidentally tripped.

In one of those whispers but not really a whisper tone the voice “Wally?”

“What are you doing on the ground kiddo?” Barry whispered carefully not to wake Iris who was still asleep.

“Oh just...sleeping, I uh, had a bad dream.”

* * *

 Iris woke up in an empty bed. That was wasn’t anything outside the ordinary though. Iris was used to waking up after Barry. He has a bad habit of waking up before he needs to. Sometimes a long time before he needs to.

Wiping away the sleep from her eyes Iris got out of bed. She made her way into the kitchen yawning, expecting to see Barry making a monster breakfast or some high-calorie coffee but he wasn’t in there. She opened the back door and peeked out there to see if he was sitting out there, sometimes he likes to sit outside early in the morning but he wasn't there either. She came back into the house and looked in the living room at Wally sleeping on the couch. Then she realized Barry was asleep on the couch too. They have one of those smallish chaise couches, Wally was asleep on the regular couch part and Barry was sprawled out on the chaise part. That didn’t last much longer when Barry awoke to the sound of Iris on the phone.

Mary had called absolutely frantic last night about where her poor son might be, wondering if he tried to contact them at all. They reassured her that he was fine and he was with them. She was relieved but wasn’t able to stay on the phone long, she said she would call back in the morning when she had a moment to check in on him. So Barry had assumed this was who Iris was talking to, and he was right.

Barry arose from the couch careful not to wake Wally who was still sound asleep across from him and went straight to the kitchen. To say he was hungry when he woke up in the mornings would be an understatement. He opened the pantry cupboard and pulled out a loaf of bread and put 4 pieces in the toaster. They have one of those toasters that can cook up to two pairs of bread at a time, that kind of toaster is really a necessity when you live with someone who is almost never full. Barry was leaning on the counter waiting for it to be done when Iris entered the kitchen. She started explaining how she just got off the phone with Mary.

Barry turned to face Iris as he replied. “What did she say?”

“Well for starters she mentioned what was going on last night.”

“Why Wally ran away?”

“Well, what led up to it, yeah. Basically, he and Rudy got into a big argument. Mary said she wasn’t inside to hear a majority of their argument so she doesn't really know what it was about. Rudy was already mad from Wally getting into a fight at school and going out with you I guess, that it escalated really fast. The next thing they knew Wally was crawling out his window with a backpack.”

Barry frowned. “Is that all she said?”

“Kinda, I didn’t ask her any questions about Wally being hurt emotionally or physically cause I don’t feel like that’s a good idea? Until we know more about what is going on over there, I didn’t want to make any matters worse. I just-” Iris gave a big sigh and composed herself. “I just don’t know what to do Barry. If something really is going on- If he’s been getting hurt after all these years, and I didn’t know...I...I don’t know how I’m going to forgive myself.”

Iris started to get choked up as the weight of the situation really sank on her.

“Oh Iris,” Barry went over and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting embrace. Iris returned it and buried her face into Barry’s shoulder. “We’ll figure this out okay?”

Barry lifted his head away from Iris to look at her. Then she looked up at him as he continued to comfort her. “I promise whatever is going on with him, we’ll put a stop to it. I’m going to work today and I’ll see if there is anything I can do. In the meantime let’s just do everything we can to be here for him, alright? What did Mary say about him being here? Does she want to have him back home today or?”

“She said she wanted to drive down here herself this morning to pick him up. She’s already on her way.”

“Okay...Well, let’s get some breakfast for the kid and get him ready to go I guess.” Barry turned back around and took his toast out from the toaster. Then popped some more in for Wally.

* * *

Today was a work day for everybody and a school day for Wally so Mary was planning on driving down to Central to pick him up. Mary called in work and used one of her sick days just so she could do this without letting Rudy know about it since he is currently at work. With everything that’s been happening within the past 24 hours, Mary really just wanted to bring her son home and not have him be yelled at or anything. For not only running away, but to a place Rudy doesn't like him to be at any less, and to top it off that isn’t even all Wally has done that Rudy didn’t like. He more likely than not would be upset with Wally when he comes home but if she can keep the fact that Wally was in Central City away from Rudy maybe that will make it a little better for everyone.

Finally, after what felt like ages, Mary finally made it to Central City. She pulled up to Iris’ house and knocked. After a few moments, Barry opened the door.

“Oh, Mary you’re here! Uh, come in, come in.” He stepped aside and gave Mary room to enter the house. “Wally and Iris are over at the table.” Barry pointed in the general direction of the dining room where you could see Wally and Iris. They both looked at the mention of their names. Wally ran over to his mother and was excited to see her in a more or less genuine way. It took a lot of coaxing to finally get Wally out the door. He kept stalling and talking about different things that might earn him a couple more minutes of standing in the entryway. Nevertheless, they eventually ended up in the car back on their way to Keystone. Mary was kind of in a hurry. She needed to get to work herself and also was planning on dropping Wally off late at school.

Almost the whole way Wally was pouting in the backseat, staring out the window.

“Wally…”

Mary glanced at him through the rearview mirror and he didn’t react one bit.

“Wally, I know it’s tough, but you had to come home sometime… We were really worried about you.”

Mary looked back at Wally again through the mirror and he still kept looking out the window with a little scowl on his face, ignoring his mom.

“I’m not going to say that it’s easy living with your father...or even me some days...but we do love you, you know.”

“Yeah, well you guys sure have a funny way of showing it.” Wally finally responded but he didn’t look away from the scenery outside his window.

“ _ Wally.  _ Your father and I are trying the best we can. He just wants the best for you. I want the best for you... You can’t just run away like that, and you can’t run away from your problems either, Wal. Sooner or later you’ll stop trying so hard to integrate yourself into your Aunt's home and realize that there isn’t any other place like  _our_ home.”

“Oh, sure there is, prison...hell...”

Mary gave an exasperated sigh. “Alright, Wallace, be mad...  _I_   _get it._ You and your dad have  _a lot_ to work out. Maybe this time apart helped...maybe it didn’t. But you have to  _find out._ And you can’t find out if you’re always running away from it.”

Mary pulled into the driveway to their house and pulled the key out. Neither of them moved. Wally was still pouting out the window and Mary was looking him in the rearview mirror. She waited a view more moments for a reply and when she didn’t get one she continued talking.

“I’m sorry you have to go through these things...but things will get better, you’ll see...Now let's go on inside. You have to get ready for school, I’m going to drop you off late.”

Mary got out of the car and opened Wally’s door for him. He hopped out without a word and went straight to his room. The sooner he can change out of the pajamas he wore at Uncle Barry’s and brush his teeth. The sooner he can get out of this wretched house and go to school.

Wally entered his room and shut the door. He threw his bag in a corner with a huff and began looking through his draws for something suitable. Pulling out a worn pair of jeans and a T-shirt then throwing them aside. He went to take off his P.E shorts when he realized he still had stuff in his pockets. Wally reached into his pockets and pulled out a gum wrapper that looked like it had been through the wash a few times and also, Oh jeez,  _ Uncle Barry’s little journal. _

He totally forgot about that! Hopefully, it wasn’t important to Uncle Barry’s daily life because there was no telling when he would be able to return this thing. Wally sat on the edge of his bed and quickly flipped through the pages one more time. He was just about to throw it to the side and get dressed before he quickly stopped, seeing something he didn’t see last night. Which was good because if he saw it last night he definitely would have thought he was dreaming. Cause this was something he could  _ not believe. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! I worked super hard to get this out to you guys, I had major writing block for this chapter and it still isn't really what I wanted it to be but anyways tell me what you think! Your nice comments give me a lot of motivation to update faster


	8. Two Worlds Collide Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally and Barry both cant stop thinking about the discoveries they've made. Wally gets himself in a lot of trouble and like always Barry is there to help him out even if he may be a little bit too late.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I've split this chapter into two parts because it was so big and taking too long to write. This is part 1 and hopefully, part 2 will be out soon! 
> 
> There are no heavy TW's for this chapter, but Wally does disclose some things in a very vague way.

Time couldn’t go by fast enough. Wally was practically counting the seconds until the bell rang. Currently one of his teachers was giving a lecture in front of the board. About what? Wally wouldn’t be able to say. Not a single part of him was paying attention. He knew the more he obsessed over the clock the slower time would go, but he just couldn’t bring himself to focus.

Not now. _Especially_ not now.

This whole day had been tortuous. Having to contain his excitement in the car while his mom drove him to school was a real challenge. He couldn’t let anybody know what he knew. Even if he wanted to shout it from the rooftops, he had to keep it to himself. Trying to make it seem like it was the same old’ same old’ and he _didn’t_ find out the most amazing thing ever was probably the hardest thing he’s ever done.

In his defense though, it’s not every day you find out your uncle is a superhero.

Well, he was 90% sure at least.

When he looked into that journal this morning he found some things that most people wouldn’t be knowledgeable enough to write if they weren’t the Flash. Or at least closely working with him.

Inside the journal were equations, daily entry logs, and what looked like early concept art for a Flash suit. Like possible materials and designs. Maybe it was just innocent fan art? But that wouldn’t explain the equations about velocity and such, or the daily entries talking about symptoms and body changes that came with the ability to run at the speed of light.

Not only did Wally read all that, he also found out what made the Flash, well, _the Flash!_

Apparently, he was in a horrible accident that gave him his speed. All the details of what happened were written inside too.

Wally knew his uncle was really smart, and that he was _“friends"_ with the Flash because of his work. Maybe the Flash was scared and unsure what was going on with him when he first got his powers so he needed a smart scientist to help him understand them. Maybe that's how Uncle Barry knows the Flash almost personally. Or maybe Uncle Barry _is_ the Flash. Wally wasn’t sure what to believe or what made the most sense, but he _did_ know, is what he had to do with this new information.

_BRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIING!_

The bell rang and all the kids immediately started putting their stuff away and trying to leave for lunch. The teacher up front raised her voice to speak over all the commotion.

_“Alright class, put your notes somewhere where you won't lose them. Tomorrow page 183, problems 10-20 from the text will be due.”_

Wally watched everyone shove books and papers in their bags and rush out the door for lunch while he slowly put his own books and papers away. He wanted most people to be out of the halls and in the cafeteria for his plan to work.

As soon as he had all of his stuff away and exited the classroom along with a few of the last stragglers.

A lot of the students are more occupied with eating lunch in the lunchroom or out playing ball than hanging around the halls by classrooms. Coincidentally so are most of the teachers. They like to hang out in the staff room and eat their lunch there as opposed to in their classrooms. Leaving them empty and unsupervised.

Wally approached the science room and opened the door. The light was off and no one was inside so Wally flicked the light on and began his search. As he walked to the back of the classroom he pulled out Uncle Barry’s journal and opened up to one of the pages that he had folded a doggy ear on.

On that page, there was a shoddy list of possible chemicals that may or may not have been present during the time of the accident. Some were crossed out, some were underlined and some had question marks at the end.

Wally was looking for as many chemicals on the list as he could possibly find _._ He reached the back of the room where the teacher kept a metal cabinet full of such things. Undoing the latch he opened the cabinet doors and scanned the labels on all of the containers and bottles. He found a few that he was looking for and quickly shoved them into his backpack.

Wally mentally crossed them off the list as he went down. He was in the middle of trying to decipher his uncle’s chicken scratch when the door started to open. Wally scrambled to look inconspicuous by jumping to a nearby lab station counter and pretending to be busy in his journal. Once the person had fully entered the room Wally innocently looked up as if he wasn’t just stealing dangerous chemicals and seen that the person who had entered was that girl from the other day. The one who had helped Wally out when he was getting his ass handed to him.

“Wally there you are! I was looking all over for you. I know sometimes you eat your lunch in the library, but when you weren’t there I assumed you must be in another classroom.”

“Yeah! And well, here I am!” he gave a nervous laugh “So uhh what did you need me for?”

If Wally wasn't in trouble for stealing things from the science room he assumed this was about the fight yesterday. Even if he wasn't the one who was doing the harassing, he was the one who threw the first punch. Plus Linda was one of the only people who was a known witness, the office must have sent her to find him or something.

Linda started walking towards Wally pulling something out of her pocket.

“Oh well, I wanted to- Oh my God, Wally that bruise looks way worse than it did yesterday, are you alright?”

Upon actually getting closer to him and actually getting a good look at his face, whatever Linda was about to say was forgotten for the moment.

“Oh yeah, I'm fine. I pride myself in taking a punch, that was nothing.” Wally said that as if it was an accomplishment to be proud of but Linda expressed no less worry, so he tried to backpedal. “but...you know that's what bruises do, they get worse before they get better so it looks worse than it actually is.”

Linda nodded and was quiet for a moment before continuing what she was doing when she walked in.

“Well, I'm glad you're doing okay. I just wanted to give this back to you.”

“My iPod! How did you get this back?” Wally took it from Linda and was looking at it to see if there was any damage.

“Well you know, someone had to teach those boys a lesson.” Linda had a smile on her face now.

Wally was in disbelief. “Oh my God you- really?”

She laughed. “No not really, actually the office got it back and had an office aid send it to the class you were supposed to be in but you weren't there. So I offered to give it to you personally.”

“Well, thank you...it uh, it means a lot.”

“No problem!...Well, I better get back to the lunch room... Are you eating lunch?”

Wally looked over at his backpack that was still by the cabinet. “Umm… I'm…” he looked back over at Linda who was patiently waiting for a response from him. Wally basically had everything he needed. He got a good handful of the ones on the list in his bag and some at home in his junior chemistry set he got for Christmas. He should be fine. He went over to zip up his bag and sling it over his shoulder. Then followed Linda out.

* * *

 

Time couldn’t go by fast enough. Barry was practically counting the seconds until he could clock out. The station was really busy today and he was swamped with lab work, reports to fill, and evidence to examine. All of this was a very tedious process. Not only that but most of this stuff required his utmost attention, or else there could be vital things he could accidentally skip over. Which was unfortunate because he just couldn’t bring himself to focus on his work.

Not now. _Especially_ not now.

Barry pulled out a new case folder and began looking through it. He also turned up the little portable radio on his desk. A lot of times when he’s sitting idle at his desk he turns to the station that broadcasts the news. As a superhero, it helps to stay current on what’s going on in town. Also as someone who can’t stop thinking about his poor nephew, a little news wouldn’t hurt.

_“-hats just about it. No serious injuries reported leaving the scene of the accident on highway I-5. However, due to the pile up the Northbound Express lanes were tied up around 3:45 p.m. and it looks like they won’t be clear until later this evening-”_

The whole day had been torturous. No matter how hard he tried to buckle down and get his work done he kept thinking about Wally. There was so much he didn’t know. Too many different things could be happening to Wally at home and Barry didn’t like being trapped at work when he could be doing something, anything.

This morning when Mary picked Wally up, Barry didn’t know if he was handing him right over to someone that was hurting him or not. He didn’t know what would happen to him when he got home. He didn’t know if he could be preventing something from happening or if there was anything to prevent in the first place. But he did know, that he was going to do something. And the only way to do that was to get his work done so he could maybe talk to someone about getting an investigation started or something.

_“-house a few miles from Keystone Middle School caught fire in what seems to have been a chemical explosion.The direct cause of the explosion is still unknown at this time.”_

Barry who was only half listening up until this point stopped browsing case folders looked towards the little radio as if it just bit him.

“ _-garage caught on fire. No one was home during the incident except a little boy who apparently was in the garage at the time of the explosion and suffered serious injuries. He is currently being taken to the nearest medical centers for treatment.”_

Maybe it was just the fact that Barry had been thinking about Wally all day, or the fact that Wally lives a few miles from Keystone Middle School, but Barry had the feeling, like a rock in his stomach, that the little boy in that explosion was Wally.

So Barry wasted no time to get on his Flash suit and get over to Keystone as fast as he possibly could. He entered the city limits, ran past the middle school, and skid to a stop in front of Wally’s house. Even though he thought up hundreds of different scenarios while he ran here, there wasn’t anything he could have done to prepare himself for this.

He was right.

There were two police cars accompanied with a few officers talking to some nearby neighbors. A fire truck and handful of firefighters were clearing out smoldering pieces from the garage that's still smoking but no longer on fire. Thankfully it looked like the damage only seriously took place in the garage and no other room was harmed; but he couldn't be sure, that was just from an outside perspective.

Barry decided to approach one of the police officers that was just leaning on the side of her car writing things down in her notepad.

“Excuse me, what happened to the kid that was retrieved from the house?”

The cop looked up at the voice and was taken aback when she saw who it belonged to.

“Oh! Um, he uh, he left in an ambulance about 40 minutes ago. It’s on it's way to the hospital on South Street. Which is about 10ish miles...that way.”

She pointed her pen in the general direction of the hospital.

“Was his parents notified?”

“No, nobody here knows their contact information or whereabouts. We're standing by though if his guardians return home.

Barry didn’t say anything else or wait for more information, he quickly just took the pad and paper, wrote down Mary’s phone number and a note saying that it belonged to the kid's mom. Putting the notepad and pen back in the officer's hands in a second he was off again.

He slowed down to a stop when he reached the hospital. When he walked inside a lot of people turned and stared at him. There was a nurse typing away at the front desk and Barry walked up to her.

“Hi! How can...I help you?

The nurse started her greeting while she was still typing and when she turned she really didn't expect to see the Flash standing at her receptionist desk. Since Jay Garrick stepped down, seeing speedsters in Keystone is not as common as it used to be.

“A kid was brought in here around half an hour ago because he was caught in an explosion of some kind. Is there any way I can see how he’s doing?”

The nurse looked unsure on what to do. “Well I'm not sure, we have a protocol we have to follow here for these kinds of things. Only family members are allowed to visit unless stated otherwise. And I'm not quite sure if he is ready to be seen he might still be in the process of getting treated.”

Barry ignored what she said about being a family member if worse comes to worse he could easily just find the room Wally is in himself. He didn't want to have to do that if he didn't have to though.

“Could you possibly check if he is done being treated or not?”

“Even if he was done being treated, I can't let you see anyone if you're not family or are specifically on the visitation list and I don't think I see _“The Flash”_ anywhere on his file. We have this rule for safety reasons, it's not my call.”

This nurse was starting to get a little uppity with Barry and he wasn't appreciating it very much.

“Listen, this kid is probably scared out of his mind and he has _nobody_ here for him right now. No friends, no family. Please just, tell me what room he is being held in and I will be in an out. He just needs to know that he’s not alone.”

The nurse was quiet for a moment as if she was weighing her options before she finally spoke. “He just finished his preliminary treatment not too long ago and was moved to room 113, second floor.”

She was probably going to say more but Barry didn't stick around to hear it. He gave a short _“Thanks”_ and was off to room 113.

When he got there the door was open a crack and he slowly opened it the rest of the way. Once he saw that there wasn't anyone in there besides Wally at the moment he shut the door behind him.

There was Wally lying in a hospital bed with his bigger burns and cuts cleaned and wrapped but there were still smaller cuts and burns visible among dark dirt smears. He was still wearing his regular clothes for they had not changed him into a hospital gown yet.

The boy had his eyes closed until he heard the door close and they had opened. Flash approached the side of Wally’s hospital bed and spoke. He tried to sound light and positive, but it was really hard. Especially when Wally looked the way he did.

“Heey, kiddo...how are you feeling?

Wally didn't respond he just narrowed his eyes and stared up at the Flash. He did that for a few moments before he finally spoke in a weak voice, but it wasn't an answer to the question Flash asked.

“...It really is you…”

Barry wasn't sure if Wally was aware of what he was saying or not, but he went along with it. Through a pitiful smile he said: “Uh yeah, it's me. It’s me Wally, I'm here.” then his smile faded. “...how did this happen to you?”

Wally was no longer looking up at the Flash. He focused his gaze on the ceiling and let out a big sigh. He’s already suffering the consequences he didn't see any point in lying.

“...I just… I wanted to be like you.”

Okay, now Barry was really confused on what this kid was saying. “What? What are you talking about?”

Wally continued talking like Flash understood what he was referencing. He gave a little cough then spoke. “I thought that if maybe I was like you, that I would be able to make a difference...and if not in my life, then maybe I could in someone else's...then it... blew up in my face. Literally and metaphorically.” He emphasized the _“blew up"_ part with a small hand gesture like an explosion cloud.

“I don't understand what did you try to do?”

Wally winced as he moved his arm to reach into the pocket of his shorts. “Like I said-”

Slowly he pulled out Barry’s journal and with a weak arm handed it over to him.

“be like you.”

Barry’s eyes widened as he realized what exactly Wally was handing to him. He took it from the boy's hand and opened it up as if to confirm it was his, even though he already knew the answer to that.

“Don't worry, I didn’t let anyone see it.”

Barry flipped through the pages that Wally had folded doggy ears on. The ones that contained any information on the accident. “You… you tried to recreate my accident.”

Wally looked away “I’m sorry, I know it was a stupid thing to do.”

“Where did you even find this?”

“I accidentally found it under your bed last night...I'm really sorry.”

Barry sat down in the visitor chair next to the bed trying to take all of this in. This whole 24 hours has been an absolute rollercoaster. First finding out Wally got into a fight at school, then finding out he ran away, then finding out he may be at risk at home, _then_ finding out he not only blew himself up trying to get super speed but he apparently knows his secret identity too. What next? Cause with Barry Allen’s luck something always comes up next.

“So you know who I am then huh?”

Wally was quiet for a moment then he nodded. There was another brief silence before Wally spoke up again. “Are you mad at me?”

“No Wally, I'm not mad I just… I'm very worried about you, and the fact that you thought trying to recreate an accident that landed me in the hospital for months is something you would want to do.”

“Yeah, well you wouldn't understand.” Wally was shutting Barry out not wanting to explain himself in the moment.

Barry scooted his chair closer to the bed. “Then help me understand Wally. I really want to understand and help you...but you need to let me in and give me a chance.”

Wally didn't respond for a few moments but Barry waited and gave him some time to formulate a response.

“I dunno, I… I don't know how to express it… I just, I see you on T.V and stuff all the time doing so many amazing things. Your so strong and brave and it's like nothing ever gets you down. You run into danger for people you don't even know all the time, and all I've managed to do is run away from it. I know you probably don't even need super speed to be a hero...but if I could do the things you could? It would change my whole life around.”

Even though Wally wasn't explicitly saying it, Barry could guess what he was getting at. There was a little-unspoken subtext to what Wally was saying and Barry was going to try and fish it out of him.

“Okay...well, let's say you did have super speed what would you even do?”

Wally was inspecting the bottom part of his shirt which was burned. “Protect people I guess.”

Assuming Wally was telling the truth Barry could rule out revenge as a reason. On the people who bully him at school and such. Barry didn't think Wally was that type of person but it did cross his mind briefly.

“Is there anyone specific you want to protect?”

“Ummm… like, my mom and anyone who needs it really.”

This was the direction Barry was aiming to lead the conversation, but it made him sad to start hearing from Wally himself and not just in Barry’s suspicions.

“Why does your mom need protecting? Is she doing okay?”

Wally started to cough a bit again. “No she's fine its just...if I'm being honest it's kinda hard to be protected when it's like you're living with your _own_ Rouges ya know? Like if my dad was a Rouge he would be Captain Cold _Hearted_. He's not very…” Wally tried to search for a good word to use but settled on “-nice.”

Yeah, that's something Barry had been thinking about all day, nevertheless, he pretended like he had previously thought nothing about it.

“He's mean to you guys?”

“Oh yeah.” Wally said that as if the word “ _mean_ " was an understatement. “Almost all the time.”

“What does he do to you two?”

Wally looked away again. “I-I don't know if I can-"

Barry knew what Wally was going to say before he even finished. Last time Barry was questioning him he said he wasn't allowed to say something. Guess Wally took it more to heart than he thought. Barry took off his cowl and rested his hands on Wally’s arm that was to his side. Wally looked down at his uncle's hand and then back up at him, eyes wide.

“Wally, I can only imagine what might be holding you back from speaking out...but trust me, I won't be mad, I won't judge you or not believe you… I want to help you in any way I can. And anyone who thinks otherwise will have to get through me before they even think about doing anything to you, I promise.”

Wally took a few moments to gather up what he was going to say. “Well… okay then...umm...he yells…” The boy looked up at his uncle to see his reaction thus far. He didn't look surprised he still just looked sad so Wally continued. “He uh yells a lot actually… and uh when he gets mad he can um get… a little...crazy.”

“Crazy? What do you mean by that?”

“Uh yeah well… when I say crazy I mean if he doesn't go after furniture then he goes after me or my mom. Usually me cause I make him mad the most,” Wally saw Barry’s face change so he tried to comfort him a bit. “but not all the time though! It uh, depends on what he's mad about, and sometimes he's nice-ish so it isn't _too_ bad but-”

Barry interrupted. “No Wally it _is_ bad, It doesn't matter if he sometimes does it or he does it all the time he shouldn't do it at all. There should never be a reason to do that to your family… I am so sorry… I've been in your life for so long I should have known. I wouldn't have let anything like that happen to you if I'd have known, and now that I _do_ know I promise he won't hurt you ever again okay? Ever.”

Wally didn't look so convinced, like how was Uncle Barry going to do that? Follow him wherever he goes to make sure he's safe? That didn't sound like it would work and Wally couldn't imagine anything else that would work better either. “Ever?...how are you going to do that?”

“Well… there's… a process. The police will have to know and they have a protocol that they go through for situations like these. Your dad might have to be removed from your home to keep you safe, and you might also have to talk to some people you don't know about what's been happening to you. In the end, it's all just to protect you. It might be a little scary but I will be with you every step of the way. You won't have to go through this on your own anymore.”

Wally didn't say anything for a moment he just tried to readjust himself. He immediately stopped when the movement sent shooting pains throughout his body. As soon as it happened he quickly let out a bunch of “ _ouch_ ”’s in rapid succession _._

While Barry was helping Wally get comfortable again, he heard the doorknob turn. Then everything went still.

Barry’s brain kicked into relative time when the door started to open. He turned and seen through the little bit of the door that was open was a nurse. She was looking down at a clip board and not anything in the room. Barry quickly put his cowl back on and fell back into normal time.

The nurse entered the room and behind her was Mary and Rudy...perfect. As soon as Mary’s eyes reached Wally she brought her hands up to her mouth and walked over towards the bed but on the opposite side the Flash was standing at. Rudy did almost the same thing once he walked in and definitely looked worried for his son, but when his eyes flicked over to the speedster that was standing in the room he did not look happy.

“What are- what the hell are you doing here??”


End file.
